Plot
A swinger on the cusp of being a senior citizen with a taste for young women falls in love with an accomplished woman closer to his age.
Release Year: 2003
Rating: 6.7/10 (48,722 voted)
Critic's Score: 66/100
Director:
Nancy Meyers
Stars: Jack Nicholson, Diane Keaton, Keanu Reeves
Storyline Harry Sanborn is an aged music industry exec with a fondness for younger women like Marin, his latest trophy girlfriend. Things get a little awkward when Harry suffers a heart attack at the home of Marin's mother Erica. Left in the care of Erica and his doctor, a love triangle starts to take shape.
Cast: Jack Nicholson
-
Harry Sanborn
Diane Keaton
-
Erica Barry
Keanu Reeves
-
Julian Mercer
Frances McDormand
-
Zoe
Amanda Peet
-
Marin
Jon Favreau
-
Leo
Paul Michael Glaser
-
Dave
Rachel Ticotin
-
Dr. Martinez
(as Rachel Ticoti)
Paige Butcher
-
Beauty
Tanya Sweet
-
Beauty
Kristine Szabo
-
Beauty
Daniella Van Graas
-
Beauty
Tamara Spoelder
-
Beauty
Sonja Francis
-
Beauty
Vanessa Trump
-
Beauty
(as Vanessa Haydon)
Opening Weekend: $16,064,723
(USA)
(14 December 2003)
(2677 Screens)
Gross: $124,590,960
(USA)
(28 March 2004)
Technical Specs
Runtime:
Did You Know?
Trivia:
The American poster for this film featured large pictures of Jack Nicholson and Diane Keaton. In Japan, the poster also included a large picture of Keanu Reeves, presumably because of his popularity there at the time.
Goofs:
Continuity:
The scene with Julain and Erica in the kitchen starts with Erica's hand pouring water out of a teapot. When we cut fully to her, Erica holds the pot over what looks like a towel on the counter. When we cut to her again a moment later, the towel is gone and the teapot is on the stove, its spout pointed toward the wall.
Quotes: Harry Sanborn:
Some people consider rap poetry. Erica Barry:
C'mon, how many words can you rhyme with bitch?
User Review
a romantic comedy for grownups
Rating:
Diane Keaton gives the performance of her career in 'Something's Gotta
Give,' writer/director Nancy Meyers' smart and savvy take on middle-age
romance. Keaton plays Erica Barry, a 50-something playwright living on
her own in a swanky beach house in the Hamptons. Although she has
achieved enormous success in her career, her personal life leaves much
to be desired.
Erica, though brilliant and attractive, has pretty much shut herself
off from the dating scene since her divorce a number of years ago.
Erica's life runs like a well-oiled machine, with each element – both
personal and professional - fitted neatly into place, with no room left
over for spontaneity or passion. One fateful day, Erica stumbles upon a
strange man rummaging through her refrigerator, a 63 year-old
professional bachelor named Harry Sanborn who, Erica discovers to her
horror, is dating her 30 year-old daughter, Marin (Harry is, actually,
a notorious bachelor, having been profiled as such in a number of tony
New York magazines). Even though Erica is disgusted by the situation,
she is forced to take care of Harry after he suffers a heart attack
while staying at her place. Despite their diametrically opposed
outlooks on love and romance, Erica and Harry spend quality time
together, discover their ultimate compatibility, and eventually fall in
love.
Meyers has written a witty, sophisticated screenplay that offers
insights into any number of 'battle of the sexes' issues. She has
outrageous fun exploring the phenomenon of middle-aged men cavorting
with women half their age. Jack Nicholson, known in real life for doing
just that, has a great time poking fun at his own public image while,
at the same time, providing a richly textured portrait of a man who may
not be quite as shallow as his persona would suggest. When he so
unexpectedly finds his head turned by a vibrant, attractive and
intelligent woman in her 50's, Harry, a middle-aged Lothario who finds
he needs Viagra to help him keep pace with his youthful 'conquests,' is
forced to re-evaluate what has hitherto been the defining philosophy of
his personality and lifestyle. Nicholson is magnificent at showing us
the profound confusion his character undergoes as he takes those much
belated but faltering steps into adult maturity.
Nicholson is, however, only one half of this extraordinary couple. As
the other half, Keaton, having been handed what is clearly the role of
a lifetime, has never seemed so natural and self-assured on screen. She
makes of the character a capable, no-nonsense woman who has allowed her
passions to lie dormant far too long. Though, on the surface, she
appears confident and in control of her life, Erica is, underneath it
all, a woman wounded by past experience and intimidated by a culture
that expects women to be put out to pasture the moment they reach
middle age. It is this combination of strength and vulnerability that
makes Erica such a complex, recognizable individual – and it is the
very quality that Keaton captures so exquisitely in her performance.
The chemistry generated between Keaton and Nicholson in this film is so
glowing and palpable one wonders why no filmmaker ever saw the
potential of this dynamic duo until now.
In addition to these two outstanding performers, the film boasts
excellent supporting work from Frances McDormand as Erica's pragmatic,
clear-headed sister; Amanda Peet as Erica's level-headed daughter; and
Keanu Reeves as Harry's handsome young doctor who finds himself smitten
by Erica's mature beauty and charm.
'Something's Gotta Give' is that rare romantic comedy that not only
acknowledges the romantic inclinations of people over forty, but also
recognizes the emotional complexities of their relationships. Because
both Erica and Harry have been around the block a few times, they bring
a lifetime of baggage to their burgeoning attachment. Thus, unlike in
the vast majority of romantic comedies, which are clearly geared to the
younger generation, the lovers here have a depth not often encountered
when the focus is on two inexperienced neophytes. It takes the
experience that comes from living to make a person interesting, after
all.
Thanks to the quality of the writing and the performances, 'Something's
Gotta Give' takes its place among the great romantic comedy/dramas like
'Two For the Road,' 'Annie Hall,' 'When Harry Met Sally' and 'The
American President.' That's mighty august company indeed.
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