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GEORGIA RULE Send This Review to a Friend
Jane Fonda, Lindsay Lohan and Felicity Huffman help make “Georgia Rule” bearable, even though the comedy-drama directed by Garry Marshall and written by Mark Andrus is a mess. Far too much is packed into the story, weighted by an accusation of child molestation, but mainly dealing about the troubled relationships between a grandmother (Fonda), her daughter (Huffman) and the next in line (Lohan). There’s a lot for these women to overcome before the film is over.
Fonda as Georgia, ever the fine actress, lives by a set of stern rules. She brooks no nonsense when her granddaughter Rachel (Lohan) comes to stay. When Rachel opens up a mouth to her, apart from wanting to wash it out with soap, Georgia responds with a
“Go f--- yourself.”
Rachel would probably do it if she could. She’s ready to f--- anyone else, especially one of the Idaho local yokels (Garrett Hedlund), who is consumed by religion and is still a virgin. Rachel claims to have been molested, which has turned her into an angry, sexually provocative brat. True or false? The film spends a lot of time finding out.
Rachel is a disciplinary problem for her mom (Huffman), who in turn is hostile to her mom (Fonda). Cary Elwes plays Rachel’s stepfather, whom Rachel accuses of having ruined her childhood.
Although all of the angst tries one’s patience, the quality of the cast keeps coming to the rescue, as do the bursts of humor that cut through the heavy-going storyline. A special word about Lohan. She is a fine actress, as she proved in Robert Altman’s last film, “A Prairie Home Companion.” One roots for her to get over her problems and public persona and make further marks on screen with her talent and allure, plenty of which she demonstrates in “Georgia Rule.” A Universal release.
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