Douglas, Keaton can’t rehab this property

REVIEW

‘And So It Goes’

Grade: F

Cast: Michael Douglas, Diane Keaton

Run time: 1:33

Rating: PG-13

By Michael Phillips

Chicago Tribune

“And So It Goes” is going for “cute,” as in: “Oh, well, you know. It was cute.” Michael Douglas stars as the grumpy old real estate agent with the broken heart, with Diane Keaton as the lounge singer next door. The title “And So It Goes” belongs on a list with “That’s Life!” “Whatever Works” and “Enough Said,” each film’s moniker evoking that feeling of here-we-go-again and isn’t-love-a-funny-thing.

A movie certainly can overcome its own shruggy handle; “Enough Said” did just that. Independently financed but not anyone’s idea of a brave new indie, “And So It Goes” by director Rob Reiner does not do just that. It does not do much of anything, beyond lulling fans into a glum reverie during which they can recall better films that its Oscar-winning stars made en route to this one.

Speaking of recalls ... if this film were a car, it’d be up for one because the script is defective. Screenwriter Mark Andrus (“As Good As It Gets”) tailors the main character, real estate agent Oren Little, as a snug fit for Douglas.

Oren finds himself taking care of the granddaughter (Sterling Jerins) he never knew he had, while the child’s father (Scott Shepherd) embarks on a nine-month prison sentence.

By the end of the film, even with Douglas underplaying, I found myself actively rooting for Oren to go broke somehow. Isn’t that awful? A movie shouldn’t turn you against its rooting interest like that.