And So It Goes - Movie Screening

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I was not really excited for this film before going and didn't do much in terms of research on the film either. I suppose I was not disappointing by the film either but I really wasn't wooed by this retirement-age romance film.

The title of the film, “And So It Goes” seems to be a much intended hat tip to the inevitable detours and potholes of life, and the movie all but surrenders — to the kind of geriatric burlesque that seems to be the only game in town for stars of "Social Security age".

When we first meet him, Oren (Michael Douglas) is trying to unload his own estate before retiring — something that would please no one more than the fellow tenants of the lakeside fourplex where Oren lives. Among the residents is widowed lounge singer Leah (Diane Keaton.)

Orens own troubled relationship with son Cameron gives him an estranged adult son (Scott Shepherd), who turns up out of the blue on the eve of a nine-month prison sentence and asks Oren to take care of 10-year-old Sarah (Sterling Jerins), the granddaughter he didn’t know he had. And from there, you can imagine the rest of the film, Oren’s shriveled-up heart enlarges by the requisite two sizes, etc.

Watching “And So It Goes,” it's not hard to become bored with the film and it's easily replicated themes. Whenever the film feels like it might be on the verge of such a turn, it reliably opts for the cheap punch line or easy pathos. In all of the films 93 minutes, you never feel anything significant is at stake for anyone.