Mandy Moore Effect: Movies

OFFICIAL DESCRIPTION - Released by Universal Pictures: Powerhouse actresses Diane Keaton, Mandy Moore, Lauren Graham and Piper Perabo serve up the laughs when they join wickedly funny director Michael Lehmann (The Truth About Cats & Dogs, 40 Days and 40 Nights, Heathers) in his new film about cutting the apron strings, Because I Said So. Keaton stars as Daphne Wilder, a mother whose love knows no bounds or boundaries. She is the proud mom of three daughters: stable psychologist Maggie (Graham), sexy and irreverent Mae (Perabo) and insecure, adorable Milly ( Moore )-who, when it comes to men, is like psychotic flypaper. In order to prevent her youngest from making the same mistakes she did, Daphne decides to set Milly up with the perfect man. Little does Milly know, however, that her mom placed an ad in the online personals to find him. Comic mayhem unfolds as Daphne continues to do the wrong thing for the right reasons...all in the name of love. In a hilarious battle of strong wills, the mother-daughter dynamic is tested in all its fierce, wacky complexity. The girls help Daphne finally discover the truths and impossibilities of motherly love, all while trying to answer the questions: where does it begin and where should it end? Joining Lehmann behind the scenes on Because I Said So are scribes Karen Leigh Hopkins (Stepmom) and Jessie Nelson (I Am Sam). Paul Brooks (My Big Fat Greek Wedding) produces the film with Nelson.

Plot Summary: (From Enprimeur.ca): Daphne Wilder (Diane Keaton) is a mother whose love knows no bounds or boundaries. She is the proud mom of three daughters: stable psychologist Maggie (Lauren Graham), sexy and irreverent Mae (Piper Perabo) and insecure, adorable Milly (Mandy Moore) -- who, when it comes to men, is like psychotic flypaper.

In order to prevent her youngest from making the same mistakes she did, Daphne decides to set Milly up with the perfect man. Little does Milly know, however, that her mom placed an ad in the online personals to find him. Comic mayhem unfolds as Daphne continues to do the wrong thing for the right reasons...all in the name of love.

In a hilarious battle of strong wills, the mother-daughter dynamic is tested in all its fierce, wacky complexity. The girls help Daphne finally discover the truths and impossibilities of motherly love, all while trying to answer the questions: where does it begin and where should it end?

Because I Said So Review: Daphne Wilder has one sole purpose in life. After a failed marriage, she is forced to raise three daughters on her own and grows rather protective of them. Years pass and naturally, Daphne’s hold on her daughters tightens up because she does not want them to end up alone like her. Milly’s sisters Mae (Piper Perabo) and Maggie (Lauren Graham) already have found the right man in their lives, but Milly (Mandy Moore) seems to have trouble keeping a steady relationship. She ruins opportunities with odd mannerisms such as snorting when she laughs, a clear sign of nervousness that becomes a signpost later on.

Fearful of her daughter ending up alone, Daphne creates an internet ad to set Milly up with the perfect man, and finally finds Jason after about the 50th interview, a handsome man with an established career. However, Daphne also meets Johnny in between interviews and of course, he believes he’s the right man for Milly despite never meeting her. Johnny is a musician whose life is scattered. Daphne believes these traits are the signs of a man that will break her daughter’s heart, while Jason has more of a long-term vibe about him. Daphne sets up what looks to be an innocuous encounter between the two and when her daughter informs her of the meeting, Daphne fully endorses Jason as the right man for Milly. However, Milly also happens to meet Johnny, which is where the movie starts taking off. Lets just say the plot gets a little weird from here.

The storyline follows the basic formula of first establishing Daphne and Milly’s special mother-daughter bond as well as the connection between her sisters. The movie goes on to create the source of tension in the movie (the conflict those almost tears mother and daughter apart) with the use of dramatic irony, where the audience and everyone else knows the truth behind Milly’s relationship with Jason except for Milly herself.

I enjoyed most of Milly and Daphne’s mother daughter relationship, but it was difficult to like in the beginning, because it seemed like Daphne had nothing better to do than stalk her daughters. Her extreme concern about Milly’s welfare caused so many mother-daughter arguments (and they talked very loud too) that I started getting a headache when listening to the constant banter. They would constantly scream at the same time and go back and forth (sometimes they talked really fast too, it’s a little hard to keep up) with each other that it drove me crazy. Imagine being personally involved in one of those! It made Daphne seem more like a cartoon character, especially the scene just before she lost her voice. Of course, many of the arguments in the movie do relate to mothers and daughters in the audience andI’m sure some of them had a chuckle when hearing the issues that Milly and her mom were arguing about. Kudos to Mandy Moore and Diane Keaton for coming up with convincing performances; it turned out to be a strength of the movie. I wonder if they drove each other crazy too?

The plot featured some interesting, but disturbing content. First off, don’t take younger kids to the movie (it’s okay if your daughter’s in the mid-late teens) because the movie has its share of mature content, although there’s no nudity involved. But there was a really disturbing moment in the plot when Milly revealed she was not only dating two men at once, but sleeping with both of them too! That kind of turned me off to the Milly character. Is the movie sending the wrong message? Milly’s mother didn’t seem too concerned over the actual concept and instead she focused her concern over to Johnny’s supposed bad influence on Milly. It’s okay to date two people just to try it out, but Milly went way too far and it would’ve been nice for all parties if Milly just made her decision earlier. But that’s the thing, not only is Milly insecure, she’s also indecisive.

It’s immediately obvious who the audience is supposed to favor. Milly seemed very at ease with Johnny, not needing to think about what to say next and she seemed to enjoy her time with Johnny. She also adored Lionel, Johnny’s son. With Jason, Milly’s snort appeared several times, signaling her nervousness and when she accidently knocked over Jason’s great grandmother’s china, Jason didn’t look too happy. Another difference comes when Milly reveals to Jason and Johnny that she’s dating two guys. Jason didn’t bat an eye, while Johnny went bonkers, which set up the “chick flick” moment where people realize mistakes were made and they go about the rest of the movie to correct them. It’s very comparable to Chasing Liberty when Anna finds out that Ben’s a secret agent working for her dad, except in this case, the roles are reversed. But the journey towards the end is very familiar.

Despite its predictability, I believe the last 1/3 of the movie saved the Daphne and Milly’s mother daughter relationship and made up for the rough beginning. It started shortly after Daphne lost her voice during their scene on the couch. It was such a reflective and relatable moment that it really established a special bond between them. You could also see the bond shortly after Milly found out about her mom’s internet ad. Milly’s silent treatment towards her mother really sent a message and it made Daphne realize that she went too far, a moment that most daughters would relish. This section turned out to be the strongest part of the movie in my opinion.

Mandy Moore and Diane Keaton put forth a great amount of energy into their lines and the emotion really jumps out onscreen. I definitely sympathize with Milly’s frustration towards her mother’s attempts to control her life and Mandy genuinely seemed frustrated when channeling Milly’s disdain towards her mother during their shouting matches. The movie also made a great choice of music, choosing “The World Spins Madly On” by the Weepies, for the silent treatment scenes. It captured the character’s emotions well and was a deserved break for having to listen to the dialogue early in the movie. Now we know why Mandy decided to collaborate with the band for Wild Hope.

The movie was designed for mothers and daughters looking to reflect on their own mother-daughter relationship. It doesn’t really reach the male demographic since the movie is what I consider a chick flick. But I ended up enjoying the movie despite getting a headache in the middle. It was worth it to see Mandy Moore onscreen. Her acting was superb as usual and it ranks up there with the best of Mandy’s movie roles. Even though the ending is predictable, I won’t spoil it. You can see for yourself what becomes of Milly and her mother.

Grade: B

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