Something’s Gotta Give

Here’s a rare Hollywood animal: a romantic comedy that both is organically funny and has something adult and absorbing to say. It’s also a film that frankly addresses rather than cosmetically enhances or wallows in the coupling of men with much younger women. Jack Nicholson gives a pitch-perfect performance as the 63-year-old rap-label executive and notorious bachelor Harry Langer, who is known for dating only arm-candy women under the age of 30. One weekend, he is taken to a Hampton beach house by his latest flame (Amanda Peet) where he meets, butts heads with and may even be attracted to his girlfriend’s playwright mother (a never-been-better Diane Keaton). The conversations here are ripe with revelations about love and sex and commitment that both literally and figuratively mess with Harry’s heart. The film was written and directed by Nancy Meyers (What Women Want) and co-stars Keanu Reeves, who, in the role of a romance-smitten cardiovascular surgeon, paints a welcome layer of freshness over his inherent blandness.