Movie Review: In the Land of Women

"In the Land of Women", which opened Friday, is the story of Carter Webb, a soft-core porn writer played by Adam Brody. After being dumped by his actress/model girlfriend in L.A., Carter impulsively leaves the city to spend time caring for his elderly grandmother (Olympia Dukakis) in Michigan (played by British Columbia.) There he becomes emotionally involved with the family next door, namely the mother (Meg Ryan) and elder daughter (Kristen Stewart).

Written and directed by 27-year-old Jon Kasdan, he's received equal press for "Women" being his first-time feature as well as for being the son of Laurence Kasdan (the Kasdan who wrote the Star Wars screenplays and wrote and directed modern classics such as, my personal favorite, The Big Chill). While it may be unfair to compare Jon Kasdan's work to his father's - and part of me dislikes even bringing up a father-son comparison - one has to wonder how the screenplay for "Women" would have been perceived had it been written by a "nobody".

The problems in "Women" lie in the screenplay. There's a long list of issues the characters are deal with, including illness and infidelity, but instead of coming across as life's messiness, the events seem unfocused. The characters have convoluted explanations for their actions. For example, Stewart's character, Lucy, isn't just a 16-year-old who's angry with her mother because she's a teenager who needs to blame someone for what's going on at home - instead, she pours out a confession to Carter about an incident that happened when she was 11, that she and her mother then never discussed and that has caused tension ever since. Scenes like this, and when Carter is punched at a party, feel more "The O.C." than movie (sorry, couldn't resist!)