Herald rating: * *
KEY POINTS:
What I thought would be a sweet, light-hearted chick-flick about three generations of mothers and daughters is, in fact, a mildly disturbing story about molestation. The subject matter isn't what's disturbing so much as the semi-comical way it has been dealt with.
Lohan is Rachel, an overtly sexual and troublesome teen with a "screw you" attitude.
Her alcoholic mother Lily (Huffman) is no longer able to cope with her and, as a last resort, drops her off to her estranged grandmother Georgia (Fonda) for the summer.
Georgia lives in a small, sleepy town in the heart of Mormon country, Idaho, and I can only imagine that Rachel going to Idaho was like Lohan going to rehab.
Matriarch Georgia is well known for her strictness and her "Georgia rules", so it's no surprise that grandmother and granddaughter clash at first before, predictably, they slowly warm to each other.
When Rachel drops into a conversation with her new boss, local vet Simon (Mulroney), that she has been molested since she was 12, the film is suddenly no longer about three woman getting to know and understand each other, but about trying to decipher whether serial liar Rachel is telling the truth.
Director Garry Marshall (Pretty Woman, Beaches) handles this material in a clumsy manner. He's so keen to make sure we can't tell whether Rachel is lying or not, he has forgotten to focus on the important issues these women face, and the film struggles to finds its emotional core.
There are too many laughs where there shouldn't be, and too many dramatic moments hidden among laughs.
It's a shame, really. Fonda, Huffman and, regardless of her youthful indiscretions, Lohan are all wonderful talents, and it's a shame they didn't get the chance to shine in this film. Molestation, alcoholism and the other problems this dysfunctional family experience would be better dealt with truthfully, rather than with these stereotypical characters.
Unfortunately, it seems Marshall has ruined what could have either have been a good comedy, or a good drama.
Cast: Dermot Mulroney, Lindsay Lohan, Felicity Huffman, Cary Elwes, Jane Fonda
Director: Garry Marshall
Running time: 112 mins
Rating: M, contains offensive language & sexual references
Screening: SkyCity, Hoyts
Verdict: A confused drama/comedy and a waste of good talent
