huggibear Basic premise and story line, but well done! Solid 6 Stars from me! I like Piper Perabo because she has played in a lesbian role and I support actresses who dare to be different in film because that tells me she supports our community of desire. Of course, Diane Keaton is always perfect for these motherly kind of roles. And I've seen Lauren Graham in other films before. She's very pretty! It's an older chick flick, but still halfway decent to watch.

abeced All the rotten critics about DIane Keaton in this film are absolutely right. And in fact it is because of that, she is succeeding to play the part which is what is expecting of her : a horrible obnoxious mother, which gets on the nerves of her daughters and therefore on the spectators. In fact each time they are scenes were she is not present the film is getting enjoyable. To make it simple, the spectator are feeling exactly what the fictional daughters of her are feeling with their fictional pushy mother. (((((In a way, her role in the film represents exactly the effect she has in most of the movies where she is acting : she is bearable or enjoyable or excellent as long she is not too often present: otherwise the spectator feels rapidly like an overdose of her. There other actors like her who are having the same effect (i'm not giving names..), and it is always a surprise to me that they director or casting responsible don't realize that they should pay the audience to watch and not the other way around)))). To come back to "Because i say so", the annoying Keaton's acting makes the film is worthwhile/interesting because it is, in fine, what the story is about.

A_Different_Drummer There is a school of film reviewing which suggests that every film should have a mission, a purpose, even if that purpose is known only to the director. This film however suggests that it is indeed possible for even the director not to know what kind of film he is making. Going into this charade, Michael Lehmann had a weak (VERY WEAK) script, but some of the best talent in the biz to compensate with. Dianne Keaton, love her or hate her, has gotten tremendous mileage out of her single breakout role (annie hall) and can at least be relied upon to hold up her character when all around her are drowning. Not here. Playing the Mother From Hell, most viewers, both male and female, would, 45 mins into the story, be more inclined to drop her from the nearest helicopter rather than put up with one more moment of her bullying. The object of her bullying, Mandy Moore, looks equally lost. This film is as far from her artistry in WALK TO REMEMBER as the North Pole is from the South, and if you break it down scene by scene you will find she is having trouble with the dialogue, and actually mugging for the camera (not intentionally) while the aforesaid director does nothing to restrain her. One has to wonder if this film damaged her career path? The IMDb rating is not only justified, it is a tad high. There is nothing entertaining about this film except maybe Lauren Graham who seems genetically happy no matter what production she pops up in. Ugh.

hboulier1 In the movie, "Because I Said So", Diane Keaton plays a mother, Daphne Wilder, whose unconditional love has no boundaries when it comes to her daughter's love life. Daphne Wilder's three daughters are Maggie (Lauren Graham), who is the oldest, well established and responsible one; Mae (Piper Perabo) who is the carefree one; and Millie (Mandy Moore) who is the single, bubbly one, that is unsuccessful when it comes to finding the right guy. This romantic and love tangled comedy takes place in San Diego California. Daphne Wilder, a single mother, has the best of intentions when it comes to the unconditional love she has for her daughters, but when it comes to the love life of her youngest daughter Millie, she abides by no boundaries to find her love. Daphne, being a single mother of three since her children were young, is in fear of Millie becoming the same person she has. Millie has had several failed love attempts in the past and after the most recent, decides she is okay with being single and wants to be just like her mother. In efforts to prevent Millie from being alone, Daphne decides to post a personal add to find the perfect match for her daughter. The twist to this, is not only does Millie not know about the secret ad her mother has sent out but also that her mother is orchestrating the men of her choice running into her daughter. Millie finds herself stuck between two seemingly perfect men, one, a successful architect named Jason who her mother chose and another, a gentle and down to earth musician named Johnny who made his own efforts to meet her. Millie's indecisiveness of which guy she should let go, is resolved when Johnny sees that Millie is in a relationship with Jason who she is not going to stop seeing. While at Jason's house, she learns that they only met because of the personal ad her mother posted on the Internet. Millie and Daphne's relationship hits a hard bottom as a result of this and love is the only thing that may or may not hold together their mother-daughter bond. With the help of burning chocolate soufflés she chooses the path that is right for her and overcomes the obstacle of who to love and how to forgive.The theme of polka dots was used to construe the ups and downs in relationship between Daphne and Millie Wilder. Daphne is wearing a polka dotted dress when she interviews Jason, who she chooses for her daughter. For Millie and Jason's first run in, Daphne buys Millie a red polka dot dress so he knows exactly who he's looking for. Millie also wears this polka dot dress to go on her first date with Johnny, the guy that Daphne's mother is rooting against. This represents the disagreements between Millie and her mother and what they feel is right for Millie. They also represent the happiness in their relationship, at the end of the film when the Wilder bunch is having a happy polka dot themed celebration. Food is used as a tie between Millie and Daphne Wilder and their intuition in life. There are several scenes in the movie where Millie and Daphne are cooking chocolate soufflés either to perfection or to a crisp. When Millie and Daphne are arguing on the phone about which guy Millie should let go of, Daphne burns and catches her soufflés on fire for the first time. When Millie is at Jason's house, she burns her soufflés first the first time ever. When Millie is cooking them for Johnny, she takes them out of the oven at their perfection. The soufflés seem take the role of intuition and emotion for both of Millie and Daphne in this movie.As much as the film is a cliché in its storyline of an over- loving mother, a daughter who is lost in her search for love, and the three daughters who are the best of friends, it is what drew my attention. These are the kind of story lines that attract the attention of viewers, because they end happily. This is personally one of my favorite movies; I love the fun music, the themes of polka dots and food and the closeness of the mother and daughter. I thought even though the film's events were predictable, I still think the storyline was fun and really had the audience involved in the emotions and relationship between the mother and daughter.