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“Because I Said So” 

Because I Said So"  Directed by: Michael Lehmann.  Starring: Diane Keaton, Mandy Moore, Gabriel Macht, Tom Everett Scott, Lauren Graham, Piper Perabo, Stephen Collins.

"Because I Said So" is a line most children have heard and most adults have uttered at least once.  It's the go-to phrase used often in arguments when all other logical reasons have been exhausted.  In this film, the main character's just about worn it out. 

"Because I Said So" revolves around a group of sisters who nearly go crazy trying to make their dominating mother happy.  Diane Keaton is Daphne, mother of Milly (Mandy Moore), Maggie (Lauren Graham), and Mae (Piper Perabo).  Maggie and Mae are both married and in their mother's mind settled, which leaves the single, floundering Millie the main object of Daphne's unwanted attention. 

By all outward appearances, Millie appears to have a pretty great life.  She's not particularly organized or put-together, but she owns her own bakery, she has a great apartment and she seems to have a pretty normal dating life.  None of this is good enough for Daphne, so she sets out to find the "perfect man" for her daughter.  She places an ad looking for a man for Millie.  She meets the men and judges them, one after another, in an interview-style manner.  She picks Jason (Tom Everett Scott), a well to do architect and then arranges for the two of them to meet.  Of course, Millie is the only one not clued in on her mother's meddling.

Millie and Jason start dating, but soon Johnny (Gabriel Macht), a witness to Daphne's "interviews" enters the scene.  Millie dates both men for a while.  It's clear she has a closer, more real connection with Johnny, so why does she stick with Jason?  Basically, she sticks with him because her mom says so.

Daphne's own dating status motivates most of her actions.  She is projecting her own anger regarding her failed, unpleasant marriage along with her frustration with her current single status on her own daughters.  She doesn't want them to make the same mistakes she did, and therefore she'll do whatever she can to help them avoid it.  In her mind that gives her ultimate power over them and their choices, to the point that it makes them more miserable.

"Because I Said So" greatest fault is that it tries too hard to be cute.  There are a few real, touching moments in the film.  But most of the funny stuff drags out (the interviews, for example) to the point that it's not funny anymore. 

Most romantic comedies (and almost all films for that fact) storylines are given away in the trailer.  Even though audiences know what's most likely going to happen in the end, they still venture out to these films because they hope for an interesting story along the way.  Unfortunately this film felt very predictable from start to finish and the moments that weren't were few and far between.