'Something's Gotta Give' was a movie that I was interested in seeing, but wouldn't have minded waiting for either video or television to watch it. I thought that the premise of an older man attracted to younger women, only to be under the care of an older woman was a refreshing premise for Hollywood. Usually, we see movies where an older man is dating (or married) to a younger woman, and few people bat an eye. But this movie attemtped to break some new ground in actually having two older lead actors be both physically and emotionally attracted to one another.

I saw something in 'Something's Gotta Give' that I have never seen, or may never see again. I have never seen Jack Nicholson get one-upped or outdone in any movie that he's ever been in. He literally steals every movie that I've ever seen him in, whether it be 'The Shining,' 'Batman,' 'A Few Good Men,' or whatever. When you go see a movie with Jack Nicholson in it, you go to see a Jack Nicholson movie. With 'Something's Gotta Give,' it's Jack Nicholson who isn't the one who steals the show. That duty lies with Diane Keaton. In most scenes, they are a perfect duo. But every so often I found myself thinking that Jack Nicholson was going to go into Jack Nicholson mode and start to steal the movie from under it's feet. But when I would think that was going to happen, it wouldn't be Jack who steals the movie, but Diane. It's movies like this that remind us the audience that Diane Keaton is one of the most versatile actors in movies today.

The acting was top notch. Jack and Diane had a real chemistry together that lept off the screen. Part of the appeal to their on-screen chemistry was seeing two older aged actors actually being physically engaged with one another. Like I said earlier, it's really commonplace in Hollywood to have an older man married to a younger woman (Michael Douglas/Catherine Zeta Jones). So to see two older people who were on the same mental wavelength was pretty interesting and fresh.

Sometimes the movie would get bogged down under it's own cutesiness. Part of this had to do with the fact that my age demographic wasn't the demographic that this movie is geared towards. Let's face it, this movie is geared more towards the Boomer crowd and some of the jokes and images were filmed accordingly. Someday I'll laugh knowlingly at jokes about both menopause and Viagra, but at age 26, some of the jokes hit on only the outside level. I knew that they were supposed to be funny, but they weren't relatable because I didn't have my own experience to fall back on.

The movie was LONG. I really stick to my guns that a romantic comedy needs to fall somewhere in the hour and a half to an hour and forty-five minutes. An hour and forty-five minutes should be the maximum length that a romantic comedy should fall. This usually has to do with there not being enough fresh material that can be presented in a romantic comedy that extends beyond a certain length. Before long, you're repeating similar jokes and mining subject matter until it's barren and dry. You want to show the audience what they want without beating them into submission. You almost want your audience to leave wanting more. That's usually the sign of a well made romantic comedy.

But maybe another factor is that this movie wasn't quite sure if it WAS a romantic comedy or if it was a drama. I think that at times, the balance between drama and romantic comedy worked well. At other times, it didnt' seem to work so much.

Overall, a pretty decent movie. If you ask me about this movie in fifty years, I'll probably be telling you that this was a movie "for the ages." no pun intended. (how's that for hack writing)

matt out