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Lilly (Felicity Huffman) holds on
tight to daughter Rachel (Lindsay Lohan). Photo
by Ron Batzdorff/Universal Pictures |
You’d
have trouble finding two actresses who’ve endured more
hatred than Jane Fonda and Lindsay Lohan. In 1972, with
America still engaged in the Vietnam War, Fonda
openly spoke in favor of the North Vietnamese and said U.S.
soldiers were “war criminals” for claiming they were
tortured in P.O.W. camps. At a book signing shortly after
the war, a Vietnam veteran spat on her.
Lohan has faced media
overexposure from her feud with Hilary Duff, disputes about
her breast size, a dangerous eating disorder and erratic
behavior. In fact, it was while on the set of Georgia
Rule that she received a letter from the studio chief
calling her a “spoiled child” whose “irresponsible and
unprofessional” conduct had endangered the production.
Hanging out with Paris Hilton certainly doesn’t help either.
And so it’s with curious,
scandal-mongering eyes that one watches Georgia Rule
and looks for even the faintest signs of dissension and
turmoil. There are none. To the gossipy chagrin of many,
this is a well-acted, moving film with a pull-no-punches
script that never gets too sentimental.
Lohan plays Rachel, a
bratty 17-year-old who has become so intolerable to her
mother, Lily (Felicity Huffman), and stepfather, Arnold
(Cary Elwes), that they’ve sent her to suburban Idaho for
the summer to live with Lily’s mother, Georgia (Fonda).
Rachel is forced by her grandmother to work at a local
doctor’s (Dermot Mulroney) office, where she develops a bit
more than a school girl crush on her employer. She’s also
interested in a local farmer named Harlan (Garrett Hedlund),
a devout Mormon who finds her hard to resist.
If you think you know
where this is going, you’re wrong. This is not a sappy story
about the rebellious teen who learns life lessons from her
strict grandmother. It’s smarter than that, and a better
movie because of it. Suffice it to say that Rachel’s
constant need for attention and affection drives the script
by Mark Andrus (As Good As It Gets) to a complex and
unpleasant level that reveals dormant truths about the three
generations of women.
Acting is paramount in
Director Garry Marshall’s (Pretty Woman) films, and
the two-time Oscar-winning Fonda can still deliver a zinger
with the best of them. Huffman is one of the best actresses
working today, and in truth deserved to be discovered long
before the success of Desperate Housewives and
Transamerica. The two also work very well together as
they argue about their own mother/daughter issues, and it’s
a credit to Marshall that the strife between Lily and
Georgia, although never quite fully realized, is still given
credence as the main storyline unfolds.
Here’s what is often
forgotten about Lohan due to her tabloid troubles: She truly
is a talented actress with a great screen presence. She can
make us laugh and feel sorry for her with ease, and at no
point is she overshadowed here by her two more experienced
co-stars. Whether you like her or not, if Georgia Rule
is any indication she probably has a bright future ahead of
her. That’s on the condition, of course, that she doesn’t
Tom Cruise her career.
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Georgia Rule ***
Directed by Garry
Marshall. Written by Mark Andrus. Starring Jane
Fonda, Lindsay Lohan, Felicity Huffman, Dermot
Mulroney. Rated R.
**** A genuine
must-see
*** Entertaining
** Mediocre but
not worthless
* A wretched
waste of time
Also opening in
Miami-Dade County this Friday: The Ex, 28
Weeks Later, The Valet, Waitress. |
