A man having trouble with women suddenly finds himself surrounded by them in this independent comedy drama. Carter Webb (Adam Brody) is a successful writer who has fallen into an emotional tailspin after his girlfriend, well-known actress Sophia (Elena Anaya), breaks up with him. When Carter learns that his grandmother (Olympia Dukakis) is in failing health, he decides to leave California and return to his hometown of Detroit to help take care of her and beginning work on his long-planned novel.
As Carter spends time with his grandmother, he becomes friendly with her neighbors -- mom Sarah Hardwicke (Meg Ryan) and her two daughters, angst-ridden teen Lucy (Kristen Stewart) and precocious 11-year-old Paige (Makenzie Vega). As Sarah attempts to deal with a pressing personal crisis and Carter begins sorting out his relationship issues, he discovers that sometimes what feels like the end is actually just a new beginning. In the Land of Women was the first directorial project for actor and screenwriter Jon Kasdan, the son of writer and director Lawrence Kasdan. ~ Mark Deming, Rovi
This potentially saccharine weepy has an authentic ring, thanks to Jon Kasdan's script and a cast capable of delivering clever lines that sound just about right for whatever situation they're in.
Brody's apparent ease in his own skin and his skills as a listener make Carter an engaging fellow and make it understandable why, as soon as he moves to town, people start confiding in him.
The meek, mopey comedy In the Land of Women is the film equivalent of a sensitive emo band with one foot in alternative rock and the other in the squishy pop mainstream: a softer, fuzzier Garden State.
Brody is the epitome of the trustworthy, funny, approachable, but magnetic nice guy that you would marry in a second if he really existed. It was like Tom Hanks and John Cusack had a love child.
Jonathan Kasdan infects them with a smart-ass self-awareness and a grandiose sense of vitality that borders on preciousness. It has that Baby Boomer quality of his father's films without any of the history to back it up.
Writer-director Jonathan Kasdan - he of the much-loved, short-lived Freaks and Geeks -- is no stranger to quirky characters. But why is it then that the characters in Land -- especially the high schoolers -- ring so false?
The script is problematic. Much of it feels half-formed; there are some potentially interesting ideas but they are not really developed well. The audience is supposed to take certain things on face value -- and there are many missed opportunities, particu
Unintentionally makes a case for believing that the young have nothing of interest to say to their seniors, and very little of interest to say to each other.
Despite Adam's glorious performance, the show stealer was Olympia Dukakiswho was hilarious in every scene. From claiming she was dying every second to answering the front door with no pants. She stole the show for me.
I really liked this movie. Adam Brody did a good job playing the leading man and Kristin Stewart is amazing.
May 6, 2007
Rachel F
Super Reviewer
Sort've light, sort've intelligent, sort've good. It mainly rides on the performances of Adam Brody, Kristen Stewart and Meg Ryan. The latter two definitely make this as good as it is, while Adam Brody basically just plays a variation of Seth Cohen from The O.C. So the mother/daughter storyline works extremely well, as
does their shared time with Adam Brody. However, his time spent alone is utterly worthless and cheesy.
No quotes approved yet for In the Land of Women. Logged in users can submit quotes.
Submit a Quote from 'In the Land of Women'
A quote can be a single line from one character or a memorable dialog between several characters. Please make your quotes accurate. Quotes will be submitted for approval by the RT staff.
Example:
Luke: Alright. I'll give it a try. Yoda: No. Try not. Do or do not. There is no try.
64%
——
97%
Top Critic
