IN THE LAND OF WOMEN EXCEEDS EXPECTATIONSWith some movies, I pretty much feel like I'm taking a bullet for the team in efforts to keep you away from bad movies and steer you to the unexpected. I may not see all the "best" movies and actually try to find the ones that like buried treasure, are often hidden but valued. This is one of those movies. It's not fantastic by any means, but it is an unexpectedly sweet and tender movie. Cartner Webb (A surprisingly talented Adam Brody) is a writer who's life gets so complicated that he needs a time out. He goes to stay with his grandma (Olympia Dukakis) to get away from it all, but instead finds that there is no true hiding place from life's messy business. He is well spoken and the dialogue is sharp and amusing. He practically drips of Holden Caulfield (Catcher in the Rye). Soon he meets his grandmother's neighbors, wife and mother, Sarah Hardwicke (Meg Ryan) and her daughter Lucy (Kristen Stewart) who are both going through some of those messy life things. I liked Ryan in her role. She isn't cute or funny, she is sincere and real and did a decent job in this. As I mentioned earlier, this is not the best movie of the year, but an entertaining honest look at ourselves.
Rating: An entertaining post-coming-of-age film with heart.
