And So It Goes (DVD) – Movie Review
Romantic movies don’t always have to include a young, energetic couple. It’s time for the elderly people to get a piece of the movie pie, the director of And So It Goes must’ve thought. And like that, you’ve arrived at a new 3rd-strike movie review to read!
One of the main characters in And So It Goes is Oren Little. Oren (Michael Douglas) is a pretty bitter and lonely man who doesn’t seem to like most people and who tries to keep to himself. One day though, the unexpected happens and Oren’s son pays him a visit to tell him some dreadful news: he must go to prison. His father doesn’t seem too bothered by this news until he finds out that he must take care of Sarah (Sterling Jerins), the granddaughter he never knew existed. Luckily, Oren’s neighbor Leah (Diane Keaton) is kind enough to help out with the babysitting and soon enough, she and Sarah become very close. Sarah even calls her grandmother at one point. Leah is a sweet and lovable woman who continuously tries to make Oren a bit friendlier to the people around him while working as a singer in small bars and restaurants. Oren soon befriends Leah and as he helps her to develop her career, the two soon become very close to one another.
The whole movie is really about how a nine year old girl and a lovely neighbor try to persuade grumpy Oren into allowing them to be part of his life. Right of the bat, you can see this is a difficult challenge but bit by bit, friendships and bonds are forged while hatred and egocentrism are put aside. The story may sound like something beautiful and emotional but in reality, it’s not that special. The only one who seems to get some character development is Oren and that’s a bit of a shame as the other personages are pretty interesting as well. Take Leah for example. She constantly bursts out in tears because she misses her late husband incredibly much and although the subject is indeed present in the movie, it felt like all spotlights were pointed at Oren instead of going deeper into Leah’s story.
Another remark consists in the lack of real humour in the movie. Although And So It Goes is labeled as a romantic comedy, the comedy part seemed incredibly absent while romantic scenes were plenty. Well yes, you can get some laughs at Oren’s silly and rather mean behavior but most of the time, the humour is so subtle you will probably not even notice that you should be laughing. The few really funny scenes that are in the movie feel obligatory, like the director’s idea was: ok, we should really put something funny in here because otherwise this movie will not be labeled as a comedy. The romantic parts however, are enjoyable to watch and realistic, which makes me wonder why they even bothered into making this partly a comedy. If you watch this movie, thinking it’s only a romantic movie without grasping the comedy label on the back of the DVD box all too much, you might enjoy it a lot more. Some people only like romantic movies when it’s a funny one at that, so it might be a bit misleading to categorize And So it Goes in the comedy department.
Okay enough about that. Let’s talk a bit more about the cast behind And So It Goes. The big names on the list must be Michael Douglas and Diane Keaton. Michael Douglas (Don’t Say A Word, Wall Street: Money Never Sleeps) plays the egocentric fellow Oren Little and succeeds greatly in being a bastard. Erhm, well, I mean that’s he’s good in portraying the obnoxious character of course. What’s even better is that, at the end of the movie, you (the viewer) will actually start to like the same character you probably despised the whole time. It’s like suddenly, Joffrey Baratheon is actually a very cool fellow (ok well, maybe Oren is not that horrible but you get the idea). Diane Keaton (The Godfather, The Big Wedding) makes for a convincing and heartwarming neighbor and the contrast between her character and Douglas’ couldn’t be any bigger. It’s great to see the two work together as you can clearly see they had a lot of fun playing their respective characters. Last but not least, let’s not forget about young Sterling Jerins (World War Z, The Conjuring) who did a splendid job as granddaughter Sarah.
For the fans of extra features, bad news. No deleted scenes, bloopers or making of videos on the disc this time around.
Conclusion
And So It Goes is decent enough as a romantic movie but you shouldn’t watch it for the great humour. The story is not that special in regards of originality and it feels like the only character that gets some character development is Oren Little while it’d be nice to know more about the other personages. The movie is decent enough to give it a shot but I’m pretty convinced that better alternatives swarm the market.
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