Well, I went to Georgia Rule for Chart this past week, and my ‘official’ review is here in case you’re a little bit curious. As I hated this film, there might be spoilers in this review, so if you’re going to go and see it, then don’t read this. Okay? That should be sufficient warning, no?
Annnywaaay. While everyone else in the theatre laughed at the ridiculous jokes and silly situations, Tara and I sat there stone-faced and serious. In addition to not finding a single part of the film remotely funny, I also felt disgusted that films like this, films that must obviously hate women, actually still get made in this day and age.
And it’s not like Garry Marshall, the director, or Mark Andrus, the screenwriter, has ever met a woman that lives outside the deep-seeded stereotypes tossed into this picture. Lindsay Lohan, who plays Rachel, the main character, is a mixed up teenager whose been sexually assaulted by her stepfather. So she’s jaded, confused, and forms attachments to men based on the wrong sorts of emotions. Right, but it’s not like the film actually explores any of the more serious implications of Rachel’s abuse to her life, oh no, instead it’s all one big joke—and when she finally confesses the abuse, a ‘did she or didn’t she’ back and forth forms the central “plot” for the film.
The two people caught in the middle of Rachel’s confessions: her grandmother Georgia (Jane Fonda) and mother Lilly (Felicity Huffman) either believe her without a doubt (the former) or think she’s just lying again, like she has all of her life (the latter). There’s multi-generational breakdown happening here because Lilly has rebelled all of her life against Georgia, and has become a serious alcoholic in the years that saw her flee from her mother’s house and into the arms of her successful divorce attorney (natch) of an evil husband, played by Cary Elwes.
As the stereotypes pile up, Rachel finds herself dumped in Hull, Idaho, where Georgia, alongside her infamous “rules” (dinner’s at six, no exceptions; if you live with her you need to work, no exceptions; don’t take the Lord’s name in vain, if so, wash your mouth out with soap, no exceptions). These same rules caused Lilly’s own rebellion but Rachel finds some sort of solace with her grandmother, but not that this is even explored in the film, as anything approaching an emotional connection is glossed over by sitcom-inspired comedy and unfunny one-liners.
All of the women in this film make bad decisions with no explanations really for their actions. There are no consequences necessarily either, in fact, very little actually happens in this film. In a vain attempt to get the audience on side, every single situation that should have some sort of emotional impact is maligned by some sort of pale attempt at a joke. Lohan changes skimpy outfits and screams a lot. Huffman falls down drunk a lot. Fonda pinches up her face a lot. In short, it’s embarrassing for all of them.
And I can’t help but think that feminism hasn’t really advanced in any way if multi-million dollar studios are still branding dreck like this as a ‘chick flick’ and expecting women to flock in droves into the theatres. These are not real women. Nothing about them feels authentic. The PG-rating betrays the serious issues in the film; you can’t feel anything for Rachel except exhaustion. She’s tired, the film’s tired, the comedy is tired, the direction is tired, I could go on, but I’m sure you get the point.
I get the feeling that both the director and the screenwriter are out of touch with a modern world. I get the feeling that the actors tried, with the exception of Lohan, to make the most out of the substandard material. But I also feel that if a filmmaker is going to take on serious subjects, like sexual molestation, there should be a level of commitment to the material that goes beyond wanting to create conflict. There’s none of that here, and even when the ending comes around, despite the saccharine nature of the scene, you’re left feeling dirty for sitting through this picture in the first place.