"Something's Gotta Give" is a slow burner of a romantic comedy. It is disarmingly genuine in a genre that has been swamped by toilet humor and lowbrow physical comedy.
In this film, instead of driving the plot toward the next joke setup, director and screenwriter Nancy Meyers allows her characters to interact. Meyers takes her time, not wanting to rush her audience into a plot, and she allows her characters to establish themselves as three-dimensional. Only then does she solidify the love/hate relationship between the two protagonists and permit them to fully mingle.
The film begins with a shot of Harry Sanborn (Jack Nicholson) in a car with his current girlfriend, Marin (Amanda Peet). The viewer learns that Harry, a media mogul for a rap record label, has a penchant for younger women, and he has never dated within his own age bracket.
So, when Harry accidentally meets Marin's mother, Erica Barry (Diane Keaton) at her beach house, many gender issues come bubbling to the surface. Erica, an accomplished screenwriter, sees many men her age cavorting with younger women, and she feels ashamed of herself and her own femininity as a result. The conflicts eventually come to a head at the dinner table, where Erica's younger sister Zoe (Frances McDormand) gives a passionate rant about the double standard of age norms between men and women. The speech, while painful, rings with truth, and it sets the bittersweet tone that dominates the rest of the movie.
Harry suffers a heart attack shortly after dinner, and by circumstance, Erica is thrust into the role of caretaker. Harry and Erica eventually move toward a mutual understanding, and the film tackles two important issues -- Harry's love of an older woman's beauty and Erica's love for her body. Erica's writer's block and her desire to write a winning screenplay add subtext to this main love story.
In the process of dealing with such sensitive issues, the movie often stops cold in its tracks, and the audience suffers from the film's attempt to deal with its own weightiness. There are at least two false endings to this film, and by the last half hour, I was looking at my watch despite its modest 128-minute running time.
There are several times, however, when this decaffeinated approach works. Particularly charming are the Instant Message conversations that Harry and Erica have from different rooms of the same house. The hospital scenes are also refreshingly comical, and because Meyers has given the viewer so much time to know and breathe with the characters, the humor springs from them rather than from quippy jokes. There are no cardboard cutouts or raging stereotypes required in this comedy. Meyers has the maturity and intelligence to realize that human nature is funnier than either of these.
It is also important to note the individual performances in this film. Nicholson, although he turns in a decent performance, seems to have gotten lazy with this role. He appears content to play himself, and he turns in a satisfactory, though not brilliant, performance.
Keaton, however, bites into her role as Erica. She balances the humor and tragedy that is inherent in her character, and Keaton inflects her lines with a measure of vulnerability. She recently won the Golden Globe for Best Actress in a Musical/Comedy. She also picked up the film's only Academy Award nomination for Best Actress. Although it is likely that Charlize Theron's daring turn as a murderous prostitute in "Monster" will win over the Academy, Keaton's performance could pull off a surprising upset.
In summary, a viewer's enjoyment of "Something's Gotta Give" is highly dependent on what kind of movie he or she wants to see. This is not, by any means, a popcorn fluff film. It deals with important issues in a graceful, protracted manner, and the viewer must be willing to digest the film rather than simply watch it. Even though it is classified as a comedy, "Something's Gotta Give" is more about mood than the one-liners, and once the viewer settles in, he is liable to enjoy it a great deal more.
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