AND SO IT GOES (Rob Reiner). 94 minutes. Opens Friday (July 25). See listing. Rating: NNN
You know exactly where this one is going from the moment Michael Douglas hits the screen. He’s Oren, a prick of a real estate agent trying to sell a small-town mansion. After pitching it more than a little too hard, he goes back to his cluttered flat in a low-rise development, where he treats the neighbours, including Leah (Diane Keaton), like shit.
Soon his son, heading off to jail, asks him to take care of his daughter Sarah (Sterling Jerins) while he’s serving his sentence. Oren refuses at first but then agrees, and Leah, also unwillingly at first, helps out and, well… you know the rest.
In the face of the screenplay’s predictability, Douglas relishes the role and Keaton is so winning. She plays a wannabe lounge singer who can’t get through a single song without recalling her recently deceased husband and breaking into tears. It’s funny/sad shtick that she takes to the limit and – who knew? – she can really sing.
There’s nothing revelatory here. This is a pleasant diversion designed for those who aren’t interested in comic book characters and pics that blow up big – i.e., a more mature audience.
Sneer if you want. But everyone deserves a summer movie.
susanc@nowtoronto.com
