Review: And So It Goes

Michael Douglas and Diane Keaton in a romantic comedy directed by Rob Reiner. It must have looked good on paper. Onscreen, not so much.

Douglas is Oren, an ornery realtor who has yet to get over his wife's death from cancer. An equal opportunity grump, he's only too happy to shower his insensitivity on men, women, children, and animals. Of course, he's the perfect last resort for his estranged son Luke (Scott Shepherd), who shows up on his doorstep with a granddaughter Oren never even knew about; by the way, please look after her while I serve nine months in prison. "I already tried to raise a kid. It didn't work out," is Oren's reply.

Luckily Leah (Diane Keaton), his next-door neighbour, takes 10-year-old Sarah (Sterling Jerins) under her wing. An aspiring lounge singer, Leah can barely get through a song without breaking down in remembrance of her husband who died of an undetected brain aneurysm. Oren and Leah bicker as they bond, and we all know where this is heading.

And So It Goes ambles along without much consequence, often feeling like an extended sitcom with stock characters and one-liners that almost anticipate the beat of a laugh track. There's very little to recommend it apart from a biting supporting turn by Frances Sternhagen and its two seasoned stars. Douglas and Keaton have an easygoing chemistry though one wonders if screenwriter Mark Andrus (As Good As It Gets) may have been too gentle in his handling of this romance.

There's an exchange between Oren and Leah: advising her how to package her onstage persona, Oren refers to her as a hot property. "Hot property? This is a hot property? I don't think so," she replies. "You bet your ass," Oren counters and damn that dangerous glint in Douglas's eye and lascivious tone with which he delivers the line. It leaves Keaton's Leah completely undone and aflutter and makes one wish for a more rough and tumble treatment of their mating dance.

And So It Goes

Directed by: Rob Reiner

Written by: Mark Andrus

Starring: Michael Douglas, Diane Keaton, Sterling Jerins, Frances Sternhagen, Annie Parisse, Scott Shepherd