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Movie Review: 'Something's Gotta Give'
by Rich Brooks
16 December 2003
Faced with the Sunday afternoon alternatives of watching niggerball or more endless and repetitious accounts of Sadaam Hussein's "capture," I opted instead to take in the new Jack Nicholson romantic comedy now playing at my local cinema. And in spite of some jewish overtones which are the norm in any Hollywood production, "Something's Gotta Give" provided a pleasant diversion. The formula is really pretty simple and never really deviated from in any romantic comedy. Boy meets girl and their relationship is at first mutually antagonistic. Gradually they become attracted to each other and end up in bed together. Something causes them to break up, but we know that they eventually will get back together again. Predictable as clockwork the storyline is, but it never gets stale if performed with a certain amount of humor and originality by competent actors.
Jack Nicholson and Diane Keaton are no spring chickens, but this only makes the film more appealing to someone in my age group. Nicholson is back to playing his old slyly smirking but charming, slightly misogynist self after his failed attempt to play an emasculated widower in "About Schmidt." Keaton is still beautiful but makes no attempt to hide her age. In fact the whole age issue is handled with humor and sensitivity. Yes, there are the Viagra jokes and other references to the infirmities of age, but they are done without the condescension typically shown by Hymiewood to those of us eligible for AARP membership.
Nicholson plays a 63-year-old bachelor who has never previously dated a woman under 30 and obviously uses his position as a rich music executive to obtain whatever female companionship he desires. Now in the real world, such "hip-hop" moguls are disgustingly jewish characters, but "Harry" is never presented to us as such. He is, however, dating the twenty-something Marin (played by real-life jewess Amanda Peet) and is invited to spend the weekend at her mother Erica's (Keaton's) Hamptons beach house. Erica and her sister (Frances McDormond) arrive at the beach house unexpectedly, and this sets the stage for the future romantic relationship between the older couple. Lots of coincidences and plot contrivances as Harry suffers a heart attack and fortuitously for the plot must stay with Erica for a few days while he is recovering. McDormond unfortunately doesn't have a very big role, but gives us another gem of a performance as a feminist type who at one point claims (perhaps facetiously?) to have served in the Israeli army.
The plot is thickened by the introduction of the young emergency room doctor (Keanu Reeves) who also takes a romantic interest in the older Erica. Erica happens to be a famous Broadway playwright, which explains why this divorced woman is able to afford such a luxurious weekend retreat. And, yes, her ex-husband has a jewish name, is also her literary agent, and is played by jew Paul Glaser. He doesn't play a major role in the film, however, because when all is said and done, the film is strictly about Nicholson and Keaton. And the dialog between the two is intelligently funny and not as predictably "cute" as might be expected. Nicholson is back to acting like Jack Nicholson and he is always fun to watch -- at least when he's not being a LA Lakers basketball fan. Thus, it is possible to forget about the subliminal jewish elements underlying the film and enjoy the acting performances for their face value.
"Something's Gotta Give" is largely the creation of Nancy Meyers, who wrote the script as well as produced and directed the movie. Meyers' past credits have included "What Women Want," "Father of the Bride," and "Private Benjamin" and have usually been comedies without an obvious political axe to grind. I suspect Ms. Meyers is also jewish, but I have been unable to confirm the fact. This is the type of comedy which could very well be played on stage, as it's all about dialog and character and really requires very little scenery except as a backdrop. In fact there is a "play within a play" in this movie, so to speak, as screenwriter Erica overcomes her writer's block and comes up with another Broadway hit based on her encounters with Harry.
Anyway, this is one of those rare recent Hollywood movies which has not been written for the MTV crowd. There are no niggers (that I can recall) and no gratuitous sex, violence or profanity. As I've said, I can think of worse ways to spend a Sunday afternoon.
RICH BROOKS
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