Because I Said So

2007 Comedy

Diane Keaton stars as a unconditionally loving, but meddling, mother whose vain attempt to prevent her insecure youngest daughter from repeating the same mistakes that she made leads to a series of comic misunderstandings in director Michael Lehmann's affectionate family comedy. When it comes to the topic of motherhood, Daphne Wilder (Keaton) has seen it all. Her eldest daughter, Maggie (Lauren Graham), is a highly respected psychologist and her middle daughter, Mae (Piper Perabo), is both sexy and smart, but youngest Milly (Mandy Moore) just can't seem to get things right no matter how hard she tries. Recognizing that the romantic exploits of her charming-but-struggling youngest always seem to end in tears, concerned mother Daphne vows to find Millie the perfect man. Though she always means well, Daphne's misguided attempt to set her daughter up by placing a carefully worded personal ad proves once and for all that even the most well-intending of mothers can sometimes overstep their boundaries. more..

Director: Michael Lehmann

Starring: Diane Keaton, Mandy Moore, Gabriel Macht, Tom Everett Scott, Lauren Graham

Reviews

  • A mild exercise in deliberate mediocrity, with chuckles and heartwarming moments distributed as carefully as nuts in a factory-made brownie. The movie's lack of ambition is hardly surprising, but both Ms. Moore and Ms. Keaton, who can wring flustered comedy out of the mildest provocation, deserve better.

    A.O. Scott - The New York Times

    29 November 2012

  • This slapdash, charmless, baldly boomer-chasing romantic comedy, directed by Michael Lehmann (Heathers) from a clunky, orgasm-obsessed script by Karen Leigh Hopkins and Jessie Nelson, is the lazy studio's answer to a call for more age-appropriate entertainment for "More" magazine readers.

    Lisa Schwarzbaum - Entertainment Weekly

    29 November 2012

  • What the filmmakers try to play for laughs -- a mom and her daughters chatting about orgasms while shoe shopping -- isn't funny, it's creepy.

    Ann Hornaday - The Washington Post

    29 November 2012

  • It's a dreadful exercise, tin-eared and sincere, bereft of any truth or inspiration.

    Mick LaSalle - The San Francisco Chronicle

    29 November 2012

  • It's so derivative, unfunny and thuddingly bad that it's one of the more cringe-inducing movies of a genre chock-full of clunkers.

    Claudia Puig - USA Today

    29 November 2012

Awards

  • Worst Actress

    Razzie Awards (2008)