Movies
Weekend Box Office
Film Awards & Top 10s By Year
All-Time High Scores
All-Time Low Scores
Wide Releases
Now In Theaters
76
(500) Days of Summer
49
2012
60
9
17
All About Steve
37
Amelia
53
Astro Boy
70
Bad Lieutenant: Port of Call New Orleans
52
Blind Side
47
Box, The
61
Capitalism: A Love Story
55
Christmas Carol, A
43
Cirque du Freak: The Vampire's Assistant
66
Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs
23
Couples Retreat
39
Fame
30
Final Destination, The
34
Fourth Kind, The
41
G-Force
46
Halloween II
73
Hangover, The
78
Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince
66
Informant!, The
69
Inglourious Basterds
58
Invention of Lying, The
47
Jennifer's Body
66
Julie & Julia
34
Law Abiding Citizen
54
Men Who Stare At Goats, The
67
Michael Jackson's This Is It
28
Pandorum
58
Pirate Radio
39
Planet 51
30
Saw VI
53
Shorts
33
Stepfather, The
45
Surrogates
46
Twilight Saga: New Moon, The
71
Where the Wild Things Are
67
Whip It
28
Whiteout
73
Zombieland
Stars indicate the most critically-acclaimed movies.
Limited Releases
Now In Theaters
58
(Untitled)
96
35 Shots of Rum
56
Adam
39
Adventures of Power
66
Afterschool
73
Amreeka
49
Antichrist
76
Baader Meinhof Complex, The
86
Beaches of Agnes, The
71
Big Fan
65
Black Dynamite
76
Bliss
26
Boondock Saints II: All Saints Day, The
44
Brief Interviews with Hideous Men
81
Bright Star
76
Broken Embraces
70
Bronson
62
Cloud 9
65
Coco Before Chanel
69
Cold Souls
60
Collapse
82
Cove, The
75
Crude
82
Damned United, The
53
Dare
50
Defamation
67
Departures
70
Earth Days
85
Education, An
55
Endgame
88
Fantastic Mr. Fox
31
Fix
49
Food Beware: The French Organic Revolution
80
Food, Inc.
xx
From Mexico with Love
28
Gentlemen Broncos
72
Good Hair
89
Goodbye Solo
63
Horse Boy, The
74
House of the Devil, The
xx
How to Seduce Difficult Women
26
I Hope They Serve Beer in Hell
70
It Might Get Loud
46
Killing Kasztner
43
Little Traitor, The
34
Looking for Palladin
80
Lorna's Silence
46
Love Hurts
84
Maid, The
45
Mammoth
75
Messenger, The
55
Missing Person, The
59
More Than a Game
34
Motherhood
62
My One and Only
48
New York, I Love You
66
No Impact Man
26
Oh My God
68
Paranormal Activity
68
Paris
79
Precious: Based on the Novel by Sapphire
73
Red Cliff
69
September Issue, The
79
Serious Man, A
65
Skin
41
Splinterheads
42
Staten Island
50
Stoning of Soraya M., The
58
Storm
82
Sun, The
49
Ten9Eight: Shoot for the Moon
73
That Evening Sun
61
Trucker
49
Turning Green
83
U2 3D
45
Uncertainty
67
Visual Acoustics
32
War on Kids
67
Way We Get By, The
65
Wedding Song, The
xx
White on Rice
59
William Kunstler: Disturbing the Universe
74
Woman in Berlin, A
43
Women in Trouble
69
Yoo-Hoo, Mrs. Goldberg
Stars indicate the most critically-acclaimed movies.
Georgia Rule
Generally unfavorable reviews
Based on 29 critic reviews
How did we calculate this?
Based on 38 votes
Read user comments
Rate this movie >
Movie Info
Genre(s): Comedy | Drama | Romance
Written by: Mark Andrus
Directed by: Garry Marshall
Release Date:
Theatrical: May 11, 2007
DVD: September 4, 2007
Running Time: 113 minutes, Color
Origin: USA
Summary
RATING: R for sexual content and some language
Starring Jane Fonda, Lindsay Lohan, Felicity Huffman, Dermot Mulroney, Cary Elwes, Garrett Hedlund, Hector Elizondo, and Laurie Metcalf
Three generations of top actresses unite in a film from director Garry Marshall about the power of redemption, freedom in forgiveness and unbreakable bonds of motherhood. (Universal)
Also On Metacritic
FILM: Pretty Woman Raising Helen Runaway Bride The Other Sister The Princess Diaries The Princess Diaries: Royal Engagement
Also On The Web: Internet Movie Database View The Trailer Official Studio Site
What The Critics Said
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...
Charlotte Observer Lawrence Toppman
Hector Elizondo, who has appeared in all 15 of Marshall's features, turns up as a Basque rancher and adds a bit of sparkle. I just wish Marshall's good luck charm was not a 70-year-old actor but a fresh, honest screenplay.
Read Full Review >Philadelphia Inquirer Carrie Rickey
The American public likes nothing better than a tragedy with a happy ending, William Dean Howells observed. But Marshall so cautiously downplays the tragic elements of his plot that the sweetness and light left a sour taste in my mouth.
Read Full Review >Seattle Post-Intelligencer William Arnold
In the acting contest that ensues, each star comes off reasonably well, though, surprisingly, Lohan (who had well-publicized emotional problems on the set) wins out over Huffman's comic drunk and Fonda's leathery evocation of her father, Henry, in "On Golden Pond."
Read Full Review >Chicago Tribune Michael Wilmington
Maybe Georgia Rule should be required viewing for Paris Hilton during her term in the slammer. But not for us.
Read Full Review >The New York Times A.O. Scott
It's an interesting, maddening mess -- not a terrible movie, and by no means a dull one.
Read Full Review >Christian Science Monitor Peter Rainer
There's enough family dysfunction here to fill out a dozen soppy soap operas.
Read Full Review >Salon.com Stephanie Zacharek
[Georgia Rule] is clearly intended to be an uplifting multigenerational drama about abuse, healing and forgiveness. Yet there's something unsavory about the way it uses a character's emotional and psychological scars as a gimmick.
Read Full Review >Film Threat Michael Ferraro
Georgia Rule isn’t serious enough for a drama and not funny enough for a comedy.
Read Full Review >Village Voice Ella Taylor
There's almost no rescuing this wobbly movie from its showdowns and insights. Except, that is, when Lohan's around.
Read Full Review >Austin Chronicle Marjorie Baumgarten
Never rings true. It's a dramedy whose blend of melodrama and humor is awkward and incongruous, leaping between the two modes like a fat frog jumping lilypads.
Read Full Review >TV Guide Ken Fox
Spin it however they like, the troubled but talented Lohan isn't what's wrong with this misbegotten mess.
Read Full Review >Chicago Reader Staff (Not credited)
Another flabby big-screen sitcom from "Happy Days" creator Garry Marshall.
Read Full Review >Los Angeles Times Lael Loewenstein
Georgia Rule oscillates clumsily from shock to slapstick to schmaltz. The result of these big tonal swings is a cinematic strikeout.
Read Full Review >The Hollywood Reporter Michael Rechtshaffen
Proves to be more prone to malfunction than dysfunction.
Read Full Review >Variety John Anderson
No offense to either of them, but Georgia Rule suggests an Ingmar Bergman script as directed by Jerry Lewis. The subject matter is grim, the relationships are gnarled, the worldview is bleak, and, at any given moment, you suspect someone's going to be hit with a pie.
Read Full Review >Premiere Glenn Kenny
And so it goes, leaving an awful taste and the inevitable question: Jane Fonda made a comeback to do dreck like this and "Monster-in-Law?"
Read Full Review >USA Today Claudia Puig
It tries to pass itself off as a film about feistiness, forgiveness and the bonds of motherhood. Instead, it deals lightly and inappropriately with promiscuity, alcoholism, drug abuse, grief and child molestation. Georgia Rule doesn't make you feel good; it makes you queasy.
Read Full Review >The Onion (A.V. Club) Keith Phipps
Garry Marshall has too much confidence that he can match the weighty issues here with the light comedy. He can't. Or at least he can't with this cast.
Read Full Review >Portland Oregonian M. E. Russell
Fonda, playing grandmother to this clan of narcissists, is the only one who keeps her dignity. She's funny and low-key and deserves better comeback material than this and "Monster-in-Law." The other two actresses are humiliated.
Read Full Review >Miami Herald Rene Rodriguez
Georgia Rule is so artificial, it feels like more of a flow chart than a slice of life.
Read Full Review >San Francisco Chronicle Mick LaSalle
The film is intended to be light and whimsical, but with a core of sincere emotion. But it's as if the thing were made by Martian anthropologists who assume that human audiences are as twisted as the people onscreen.
Read Full Review >New York Daily News Elizabeth Weitzman
Misguided at best and repellent at worst, the movie has, ironically enough, a single asset: Lohan's performance as a rebellious, uncontrollable teen.
Read Full Review >Baltimore Sun Michael Sragow
Jane Fonda does an about-face on her persona and her talent, playing a teetotaler and, what's worse, a pious bore.
Read Full Review >Boston Globe Ty Burr
For proof that some actresses can take on a misconceived role and get out alive, there's Huffman as Lilly.
Read Full Review >New York Post Kyle Smith
WARNING: Do not take your mom to Georgia Rule unless she's Roseanne Barr. You may expect a three-generational chick flick, but what you get is a child-rape comedy.
Read Full Review >Washington Post Stephen Hunter
Just what we need least: a warm family comedy about child molestation.That's Georgia Rule, which combines battleship actresses of the "Steel Magnolias" variety, fall-down-go-boom comedy that was obsolete in the '30s, Lindsay Lohan's cleavage and intergenerational fondling just for kicks.
Read Full Review >The Globe and Mail (Toronto) Liam Lacey
Director Marshall ( Pretty Woman) has created a comic drama so confused in tone, the actors often seem to be acting in different movies.
Read Full Review >Wall Street Journal Joe Morgenstern
Certain words should be reserved for special occasions. "Abysmal" is one of them, and Georgia Rule is as special as such occasions get.
Read Full Review >What Our Users Said
The average user rating for this movie is 5.7 (out of 10) based on 38 User Votes
Note: User votes are NOT included in the Metascore calculation.
Miranda gave it an8:
Its tough to comment on a movie like this. I think if you wanted to see it you should although it is by no means what I expected it to be it is good but different. People say Lindsay was by no means identifiable but they may not know how victims of molestation since they were young act, because she actually portrayed it well from my knowledge og the situation. How can felicity huffman be a bad drunk aren't drunks supposed to be bad actors??? huh! anyways I think it was worth watching and maybe to real for "real" Americans as stated in a few previous comments.
J S. gave it a10:
This was a fantastic movie. Do not believe all of this negative hype. It all comes from people expecting the wrong kind of movie. They marketed this as a comedy and while there are funny parts its very dramatic. THIS IS A MUST SEE.
Rev. Rikard gave it a3:
A poor attempt at creating an updated "Ordinary People" style film. However in the Mary Tyler Moore/ Timothy Hutton classic the truth begging for its day in court was not shrouded in a murky story with unbelievable, wooden characters engaged in conversations spiced with stale "American Pie" slices of adolescent humor. Consequently, so many interactions in this film are tasteless. Conrad, Hutton's character in Ordinary People, was not only so believable the audience could identify with his tormented scream for truth to rear its liberating head, we easily recognized that truth. We were mesmerized by its destructive power to slither its way in and through the lives of the entire family. Truth hidden is no longer truth; it is repressed torment. We joined Conrad in pleading for truth to move from the shadows of repressed pain and liberate him. His honest interaction with his therapist revealed conversations that could find expression in the life of every viewer. In Georgia Rule the truth is a tease. "So that's the truth; no, that's the truth!" This is the mental and emotional exercise invoked by this film. This technique works in great mysteries. However, rather than offer us dialogues of substance, Lohan's character attempts to shock everyone with sophomoric sex-sated insults that are intended to shock everyone out of denial. At some point we no longer care about Lohan's character. She is not only a recognizable character from any teen sex movie, she is so unlike most of us we cannot know her. The ultimate insult lies in the fact that the truth lurking beneath this tangle of dysfunctional characters is a serious social/family issue. Toying with an issue laden with horrific pain angered me, and I am sure many viewers. When at last the moment of epiphany comes, we are not sure what has been accomplished, and what this film has said about repressed truth and family life. In Ordinary People, the moment of epiphany was touching and haunting. The great rule in Georgia Rule should be to avoid this formula if one wants to make a relevant film about a serious family issues that impacts culture.
George B. gave it a0:
How could so much fine acting talent be lured into this very junior version of a bad Off-Off-Broadway play? Step onstage from another room, say something, turn around and return off-stage. Adding Hull Idaho added nothing - sorry but its mountain and lake beauty was overwhelmed by this bad production. Looking for a place to go if you don't have air conditioning - think of any other movie first.
Sarah k. gave it a9:
When going to see this movie, I had a completely different idea of how the movie would be. But, it turned out to be really good, and I was really impressed with the plot line, and the acting. I think Lindsey Lohan did a great job, better then expected. There was also a lot of things that allowed you to keep guessing and kept you interested in the movie. A definite go see!
Ashleigh gave it a0:
Awful Awful Awful. Even Jane Fonda's performance (which I thought was good) could make me give this anything but a zero. Maybe I disliked it so much because I feel it was horribly mis-marketed.
Derek gave it a9:
I can see what the reviews mean when they mention the tonal shifts, but this movie is still great. Lindsay is, by far the most underrated young actress to come around in a long time because people get too caught up in her public image. I've been saying it all along, and now she has proved it with a real character, not a sugary Disney one. Although this movie does have its flaws, I can tell you from personal experience that Lohan's performance rings absolutely TRUE. If you've ever met someone like her character in your life, then you know what I am talking about. No, not everyone deals with her character's circumstances the same way.. some people are healthier about it. But her character is a very realistic depiction of the other way that people can go. I do not want to get into it too much and ruin it for those that haven't seen it though.
