This is an archived article that was published on sltrib.com in 2014, and information in the article may be outdated. It is provided only for personal research purposes and may not be reprinted.
Rob Reiner hits the bottom of the romantic-comedy barrel in "And So It Goes," a desperately unfunny movie that assaults the dignity of its stars and the audience.
Michael Douglas stars as Oren Little, a self-absorbed, mean-spirited and bigoted real-estate agent in a sleepy Connecticut town. Oren is suddenly saddled with caring for Sarah (Sterling Jerins), the daughter of his estranged son, Luke (Scott Shepherd), who is soon to serve a brief prison stretch for insider trading. Oren tries to fob the job off on his neighbor Leah (Diane Keaton), a widow and amateur lounge singer with whom he tries to flirt.
Screenwriter Mark Andrus aims to show Oren as a lovable grump, much like the character he created for Jack Nicholson in "As Good as It Gets." But Oren is so crudely drawn, and so broadly played by the mugging Douglas, that he's a lost cause. Andrus gives Keaton even less to work with, making Leah by turns shrill, nagging and weepy.
The only upside for Reiner, who indulges in his stars' most hammy impulses, is that his universally reviled "North" is no longer the worst thing on his filmography.
zero stars
'And So It Goes'
Opens Friday, July 25, at area theaters; rated PG-13 for some sexual references and drug elements; 94 minutes.