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Because I Said So
Universal Pictures


2.6

based on 30 reviews
Read critic reviews
How did we calculate this?

based on 67 votes
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FILM:

MPAA RATING: PG-13 for sexual content including dialogue, some mature thematic material and partial nudity

Starring Diane Keaton, Mandy Moore, Gabriel Macht, Tom Everett Scott, Lauren Graham, Piper Perabo, Stephen Collins, and Ty Panitz

In a comedy that explores when it's finally time to cut the apron strings, Diane Keaton stars as a mother whose loves knows no bounds or boundaries. (Universal)

GENRE(S):	Comedy \| Drama \| Romance
WRITTEN BY:	Karen Leigh Hopkins Jessie Nelson
DIRECTED BY:	Michael Lehmann
RELEASE DATE:	DVD: May 8, 2007 Theatrical: February 2, 2007
RUNNING TIME:	102 minutes, Color
ORIGIN:	USA

All critic scores are converted to a 100-point scale. If a critic does not indicate a score, we assign a score based on the general impression given by the text of the review. Learn more...

ReelViews James Berardinelli

Despite being rooted firmly in "chick flick" territory (with a high "cuteness" index), it has the capacity to please to viewers of both genders who appreciate the genre.

The Hollywood Reporter Sheri Linden

Amongst the cardboard-cutout supporting characters, Lauren Graham brings a welcome deadpan sensibility to the overeager proceedings.

The Onion (A.V. Club) Scott Tobias

Any relationship between the world of Because I Said So and actual human behavior is purely coincidental.

New York Daily News Jack Mathews

Keaton is so over-the-top, so loud and so physically animated that when Daphne develops a case of laryngitis mid-way through the movie, it's as if a neighbor's car alarm has finally been shut down. However, in those silent moments, when Daphne is communicating with notes, you realize how much you like this actress.

The New York Times A.O. Scott

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.

Philadelphia Inquirer Carrie Rickey

Because I Said So might have been sharper if it had focused on the mother/daughter relationship and didn't blunt its story with romantic comedy.

Slate Dana Stevens

The problem with Because I Said So isn't that it's formulaic and predictable; fans of romantic comedy can get around those qualities, and even appreciate them. It's that the film keeps missing out on its own opportunities for comic gold.

Variety Dennis Harvey

An exercise in canned cuteness, Because I Said So pushes its normally appealing stars, Diane Keaton and Mandy Moore, over the edge of sitcom hysteria.

Village Voice Scott Foundas

Like nearly all of Lehmann's post- "Heathers" work, it's lazy and disinterested--a hack-for-hire job any number of film-school grads could have put through its uninspired paces.

Chicago Tribune Michael Phillips

Formulaic romantic junk.

TV Guide Angel Cohn

Overall, Graham and Perabo have so little to do that it's hard to imagine why Maggie has three daughters instead of one; they just clutter up her screen time. As to Perabo, she seems to exist for the sole purpose of making risque remarks, and the family dog has more memorable moments.

Entertainment Weekly Lisa Schwarzbaum

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.

Austin Chronicle Toddy Burton

With a lazy, cliché, rabid plot and paper-thin character development, Because I Said So might as well have been directed by a trained chimpanzee.

Washington Post Ann Hornaday

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.

Chicago Reader Andrea Gronvall

Throughout most of her career Diane Keaton has shown sound instincts, so it's a mystery why she failed to sniff this false, brittle comedy out as a waste of her gifts.

USA Today Claudia Puig

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.

The Globe and Mail (Toronto) Stephen Cole

A 105-minute cringe-a-thon that reduces the Katharine Hepburn of her generation to a sitcom harpy presiding over a brood of Valley Girl chicks.

Baltimore Sun Chris Kaltenbach

Watching this movie, with Diane Keaton cast as the ne plus ultra of irritating, overbearing mothers, is roughly the equivalent of listening to fingernails on a chalkboard for nearly two hours.

Boston Globe Wesley Morris

A sloppily made bowl of reheated chick-flick cliches.

Charlotte Observer Lawrence Toppman

As close to perfectly unwatchable as it can be.

Miami Herald Connie Ogle

The search for true love is the backbone of romantic comedy as well as the lifeblood of match.com, but this film's clumsy, completely inauthentic portrayal of it is handled in a shockingly tedious fashion.

Premiere Sara Brady

The film drags by, charmlessly, endlessly. Shrieking.

Christian Science Monitor Peter Rainer

I hope Keaton doesn't begin to make a specialty of these roles. They play into what is least attractive in her repertoire – the loosey-goosey, knockabout side of her that all too swiftly devolves into hysterics.

New York Post Lou Lumenick

Thirty years after "Annie Hall," the beloved actress is scraping below the bottom of the barrel with this desperately unfunny farce, in which she mugs and pratfalls in the worst performance of her entire career.

San Francisco Chronicle Mick LaSalle

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

Seattle Post-Intelligencer William Arnold

It's hard to imagine how the movie year could possibly produce a more annoyingly stupid movie. It's so witless, broadly played and insulting to anyone's intelligence that it's almost as offensive, in its own way, as "Jackass: The Movie."

Los Angeles Times Carina Chocano

Not so much phoned in as it is auto-dialed with a text-to-speech prerecorded message in one of those creepy robotic voices.

Salon.com Stephanie Zacharek

It's tempting to write off Because I Said So as just another dumb, bad comedy, made yesterday and forgotten tomorrow. But no matter how negligible this particular picture is, it's time to look a little deeper. If these are the only kinds of roles we can conceive for actresses who have grown into their faces, as Keaton has, it's no wonder so many younger performers are seeking the knife.

Film Threat Rick Kisonak

By far the most appallingly cretinous picture in which Keaton has ever appeared.

Wall Street Journal Joe Morgenstern

This film bespeaks a truly startling mistrust of the movie audience, and, what's more, a disrespect for the feature film medium. Yes, of course it was conceived as an unpretentious entertainment pitched mainly to girls and young women. Yet that doesn't explain the nightmarish quality of the finished product.

The average user rating for this movie is 2.6 (out of 10) based on 67 User Votes
Note: User votes are NOT included in the Metascore calculation.

Paul F. gave it a0:
This is the first movie I have ever, and I mean ever, that I have given the score of 0 to a movie. Usually I would reserve such a rating for the blunder of leaving the lens cover on the camera before shooting. And rarely do i write a review a movie because I did not like it but this movie I hated so much I could not resist to give others warning to stay away from this poor excuse for a movie. It took me less than five minutes watching before I took this movie out of the player and back into the jacket. !!!WARNING SPOILER!!! To illustrate just how horrible this movie was I will describe the opening scenes. The movie starts out with a mother at her daughters reception along with her other daughter she is trying to fix up. She sees a handsome man in the distance and points out this among others facts to her daughter. She warns her daughter not to laugh the way she does when she gets nervous because she sounds like a pig. So far it seems super fiscal and slightly too involved which is what the movie is about so I continue watching. The next scene is the mother getting a phone call from her daughter. The daughter is in her slip upstairs still at the reception with the man she just met less than a hour ago. His bare feet are prompt up humming waiting to get it on. Her mother reminds her that this man is financially well off. When her daughter baulks her mother reminds her that one of her breasts is smaller than the other which triggers her daughters insecurity to go ahead and have sex with this man. I understand this movie is about a mother being over controlling but this just goes over the top. This is not just about simply funny dysfunctional but seriously psychologically disturbed behavior. I felt this movie made light of something that should have been portrayed as a serious offense. In my opinion not the best role model of movies.

Tony B. gave it a3:
Not quite bad enough to become a cult favorite, "Because I Said So" is still Diane Keaton's worst film.

James H. gave it a10:
I wasn't expecting much at all of this poorly rated romantic comedy and it shocked me because I enjoyed it so much. I warmed to the characters and due to it's genre I do not expect a complex plot or a completely new storyline, what I care about is the characters and the directing. I found this a warm and enlightening film that left me with a smile on my face by the end. As long as you aren't expecting a complex and highly developed drama then I think you will be pleasantly surprised by this warm and uplifting film.

Redlight gave it a0:
This was absolutely pathetic. definitely one of the worst movies ive seen this year, if not this century. absolutely nothing worked, the "gags" were absolutely lousy and worst of all, the acting is completely unconvincing. the closeness between the daughters and diane keaton, their mother feels completely forced. mandy moore is completely wooden and looks like she's reading her lines off a flash card. overall, all the main actors look completely uncomfortable. no wonder.

PnArdy PnArdy gave it a5:
I would actually rate it as not so bad and sometimes even funny light comedy romance. A mother (Diane Keaton) sets up a date for her daughter, but fails to control the situation and the other, less perspective, guy pops in. Definetely not as bad as the critics say.

B C. gave it a5:
Sort of entertaining. Some of it is rather absurd, but hey, it's only a movie.

Some Smartass gave it a0:
Are these the only types of roles we can offer Diane Keaton? Absolutely terrible. Even my girlfriend (a chick-flick lover) hated it, that's how atrociously bad it is.

Because I Said So Universal Pictures

Because I Said So
Universal Pictures