Ginny Ceballos
Staff Writer

“Because I Said So” is another romantic comedy, except without all the laughs.

Diane Keaton stars as Daphne Wilder, a neurotic single mother who is on the verge of turning 60.

In order to forget about her birthday, which to her means the end of her life, Daphne decides to play match-maker for her youngest daughter.

Daphne is an unrealistic character with unrealistic relationships.

To make a story interesting, it first has to be believable, and two 60-year-olds having a make-out session the first time they meet isn’t very realistic.

The movie begins with Daphne’s two oldest daughters marrying, while the youngest, Milly played by Mandy Moore, is in the hotel room sleeping with a married man.

Right from the start, Milly is singled- out as the odd daughter who can never seem to find Mr. Right.

The four Wilders together seem to live in a world of their own; a world that is best not to enter. The mother and daughter relationship is highly unrealistic, with Daphne’s daughters describing their love life and what makes them scream.

Milly’s character parallels that of her irrational mother; in fact, Milly is basically the younger version of Daphne. They both share a passion for food and have horrible luck with love.

Daphne is quick to point out her daughter’s flaws, like Milly’s annoying nervous laugh, yet, she is unable to see her own flaws.

Even though Daphne is worried that her daughter will never find a man, she herself has given up on love.

Milly gives up on men when her boyfriend dumps her. So Daphne decides to interview men that she thinks would fit her daughter well. In the process she meets two men who try to win Milly’s heart.

It is hard to tell which man Milly is most fond of, the rich architect or the hot musician with a son, since she is happily sleeping with both.

It is only because her soufflé is destroyed that Milly realizes she is not happy with the rich man who would make any girl happy.

As it surprisingly turns out, Milly gets her man as well as Keaton, who along with falling in love, also gets some much needed action.

The only interesting and unique part of this movie are the outfits Daphne wears but cannot pull off. It would have been nice if Daphne’s oldest daughter, Maggie (Lauren Graham), would have saved the film from all the nuttiness since she is a psychiatrist.

Ginny Ceballos can be reached at gceballos@ulv.edu.