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Georgia Rule

Lohan, Huffman and Fonda pose a dramatic triple threat

By Brett Buckalew, Special to Metromix

May 11, 2007

Critic's Rating:

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Arriving just in time for Mother's Day weekend, "Georgia Rule" is the movie equivalent of a particularly bittersweet box of chocolates. The comedy-drama about three generations of women reconciling their differences maintains an optimistic spirit, even while bluntly tackling issues of sexual abuse and alcoholism.

The film comes heartbreakingly close to pulling off its delicate tonal balance, but "The Princess Diaries" and "Pretty Woman" director Garry Marshall's predilections for wall-to-wall pop songs and sun-dappled visuals undercut an admirably tough script.

Committed to keeping things as gritty and honest as they can be under Marshall's guidance, stars Lindsay Lohan ("Mean Girls"), Felicity Huffman (TV's "Desperate Housewives") and Jane Fonda ("Monster-in-Law") play the high-strung dysfunction of the story's central family unit with proper emotional abandon.

Lohan appears as Rachel, a recent high-school grad whose problems with drugs and partying prompt her boozy mother (Huffman) to send her to live for a summer with her strict-disciplinarian grandmother, Georgia (Fonda), in quaint Hull, Idaho.

What Rachel's recklessness and promiscuity hide is a deep hurt caused by the predatory sexual attentions of her stepfather (Cary Elwes, "Saw"), who has been molesting her since she was 12. This bombshell rocks her mom's illusion of marriage security, and Huffman conveys this character shift with an air of still-eyed shock.

Lohan demonstrates real dramatic chops in a role that shortsighted detractors are bound to accuse of not being enough of a stretch. Fonda has less to work with, but brings a welcome salty authority to Georgia.

In a testosterone-driven summer-movie season, a film that allows three capable actresses to cut loose is refreshing. Yet Marshall's adherence to the generic-chick-flick rulebook prevents "Georgia Rule" from hitting the emotional heights it could've in less manipulative hands.

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