In the Land of Women, He Said

If you're worried that because JoBeth Williams and Meg Ryan are featured in this tale of personal discovery that it's going to degenerate into some sappy romantic comedy, take heart. In this film Ryan portrays, Sarah Hardwicke, a mother of two girls. She discovers that she has breast cancer. She already knows that she has a husband who cheats on her, a teenage daughter who hates her for no apparent reason and that her life is beginning to add up to nothing.

Into this quiet Michigan town arrives young Carter Webb, played by Adam Brody. Carter has been devastated by the break up of his long relationship with a young Hollywood starlet and his failure to write the screenplay he has long wanted to write. He moves into the house across the street from Sarah to take care of his Grandmother, played brilliantly by Olympia Dukakis. Grandma thinks she's dying and Carter in a vain attempt to run from all of his perceived problems in Los Angeles, volunteers to take care of her.

When Josh meets Sarah it's the innocent but tried and true method of dog leads girl to man. They end up getting to know each other by walking the Hardwicke family dog. Eventually, they share their stories with each other and form an almost conspiritol bond of caring and concern.

Sarah, attempting to deny her less than chaste feelings for Carter tries to foist him off on her oldest daughter, Lucy, played by Kristen Stewart. Lucy, in her turn, falls for Carters innocent charm and confides in him whats going on in the family, from her perspective.

Sarah's cancer treatments and Carter's invlovement with Lucy bring many of the issues to the surface. His grandmothers death forces events to a climax. What we learn is that living a life of denial and regret brings us nothing by disappointment and grief. By facing the life we have and living it to it's fullest is far better than just taking the punches. Josh, Sarah, and Lucy all find their next direction in lives not fully lived and benefitted from loving and caring for each other.

When I sat down to watch this film the first couple of scenes gave me that creepy feeling that I was going to have to sit through one of those contrived and silly romantic comedies that mock and redicule the possability of the older woman and the younger man falling in love. I was fooled. This film is much more dramatic and worthwile than that scenario would allow. It was refreshing to see the young talent of Stewart and Brody blooming and the revival of Meg Ryan from a role of depth and charcter with larger scope than some of her recent roles.