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Rachel (Lindsay Lohan), a rebellious, over-sexed 17-year-old, has been sentenced by her alcoholic mom, Lilly (Felicity Huffman), and her step-dad, Arnold (Cary Elwes), to spend her summer in Hull, Idaho. The purpose is to keep this San Francisco teen away from her friends and out of trouble before she goes away to college. Lilly arranges for her to stay in this quiet middle-American town with her own mother, Georgia (Jane Fonda), with whom she has her own deep issues.
Georgia is very rigid, and she lives by a strict schedule. For example, dinner is exactly at 6 p.m. All who live in her house must work, so she arranges for Rachel to provide vacation relief as a receptionist to the town veterinarian, Simon (Dermot Mulroney).
Rachel is determined to cause trouble, and her first victim is Harlan (Garret Hedlund), an innocent, religious teenage boy, who’s promised himself to a girl he’s known since grade school. Rachel’s behavior one day in his boat causes Harlan so much remorse that he feels that he must confess his indiscretion to his girlfriend.
Georgia Rule delves into the dysfunctional mother/daughter relationship of three generations, but it hardly scratches the surface. Though the movie exposes the devastating secret that Rachel is victimized by, it barely touches on the source of Lilly’s pain and the early dynamics between her and her mother, Georgia. Instead, it relies on such extreme stereotypes for humor that it weakens the plot. I was confused about whether I should take the film seriously or look at it as mere slapstick. While comedy can serve as a welcome relief in movies with serious issues, this film doesn’t seem to know where it’s heading.
Rachel is told that she’s like her mother was when she was a teenager. While we find out why Rachel acts the way she does, it doesn’t tell us how it relates to Lilly’s past. And Lilly may have reasons why she still drinks, but we’re not given any clues as to why. We’re just told how the drinking affected her marriage—a marriage that doesn’t seem likely in the first place. It’s hard to see how Arnold, a successful criminal attorney, could have been attracted to blue-collar Lilly.
Georgia must have had similar issues earlier on, in order to explain her current inflexibility. However, the movie doesn’t even explore this. Though I always enjoy Jane Fonda, I couldn’t buy into her character—but through no fault of her own. The fit and toned Fonda just isn’t convincing as a rigid grandmother.
As a whole, the acting is outstanding. I was disappointed, though, not to see more of Hector Elizondo in the role of Izzy.
Some will find Georgia Rule to be both amusing and entertaining. But there are just too many laughs and comedic stereotypes for a movie that covers such serious subject matter, and I actually felt guilty for giggling during some of the scenes. This humor lightens the severity of its real issues. Instead of spending so much time on humorous dialogue and situations, though, I wish the film had probed deeper into the pasts of the two mothers in order to explain their actions. I don’t think that director Garry Marshall knew where he was going with this film. I didn’t, either.
