In the Land of Women Release Date: April 20, 2007 Starring: Adam Brody, Meg Ryan, Olympia Dukakis, Kristen Stewart, Makenzie Vega Directed by: Jonathan Kasdan
The scent of narcissism wafting off the screen in Jonathan Kasdan's dreary directorial debut is so overpowering, you'd be wise to walk into the theater wearing a gas mask. The youngest member of the Kasdan filmmaking clan — which includes his father Lawrence (The Big Chill,Grand Canyon) and brother Jake (The TV Set,Zero Effect) — Kasdan drew on his own experiences as a struggling screenwriter and former cancer patient to craft this story about — you guessed it! — a stuggling screenwriter who has a way with the ladies. Not necessarily a romantic way mind you: he's just a guy that women of all ages seem to gravitate towards for friendly, flirty conversation and the occasional passionate clinch. "Women are drawn to you," his mom informs him early on in the movie, one of the many bits of dialogue that makes In the Land of Women seem more like an act of wish fulfillment than a feature film.
Former O.C. star and nerd heartthrob Adam Brody plays Kasdan's big-screen stand-in, Carter Webb, yet another one of those overly sensitive emo-boys that young writer/directors love making movies about. To drive home how in touch he is with his feelings, the film opens with a shot of Carter's teary face as his actress girlfriend kicks him to the curb. Distraught, he impulsively decides to take a leave of absence from Los Angeles and travel to the Michigan suburbs to care for his elderly grandmother (Olympia Dukakis, trapped playing the live-action version of The Simpsons' Crazy Cat Lady). Grandma's mind isn't all there, so Carter spends most of his time moping about and neglecting his long-in-the-works screenplay based on his tumultuous years at an L.A. high school. (Gee, now that sounds like a picture that's crying out to get made.)
Since we've already been informed of Carter's irresistibility to the opposite sex, it's only a matter of time until some unsuspecting women are lured into his orbit. They arrive in the form of his new neighbors the Hardwicke family. There's uptight mom Sarah (Meg Ryan, now sporting the same unnaturally tight features as Nicole Kidman), rebellious teenage daughter Lucy (Kristen Stewart), and cute-as-a-button moppet Paige (Makenzie Vega). Although the film's trailers suggest that Lucy and Carter have a fling, the May-December sparks actually fly between him and Sarah, who is dealing with some heavy issues of her own, including her husband's infidelity and her recent diagnosis of breast cancer. She can't talk about any of these things with her daughters, but when she's around Carter, the words just flow out. For his part, Carter claims to be attracted to Sarah's bravery and kind heart. Still it's hard to escape the feeling that he's mainly turned on by the thought of scoring with somebody's mom.
Like the equally dull romantic drama Catch and Release, which was in theaters for a nanosecond back in January, In the Land of Women strains to convince the audience to that it's telling a real story about real people. But with its glossy visuals and photo-shoot ready cast, the movie ends up presenting us with the very opposite of reality. Kasdan is also much too enamored of his own characters, particularly Carter, who is nowhere near as charming as he (and the director) believes himself to be. In fact, when you get right down to it, the dude is a royal jackass. He alternately ignores and belittles his grandmother and takes advantage of an older woman's fragile emotional state while also setting himself up as a confused teenage girl's confidant and quasi-love interest. And through it all, his primary concern is how their problems affect his own life.
Having played another emotionally stunted dweeb for four seasons on The O.C., Brody must have recognized Carter's failings, but for some reason he doesn't incorporate that self-awareness into his performance. At least Seth Cohen was usually able to mock himself when he was being a jerk — Carter Webb is incapable of getting outside of his own headspace for even a minute. It's very likely that Brody's self-serious turn is also due to Kasdan's direction; since Carter is his alter ego he's got a personal interest in inviting the audience's affirmation rather than their contempt. Whether he's aware of it or not, Kasdan has successfully created the cinematic equivalent of one of those angst-filled poems teenagers scribble in their diaries about how the world just doesn't "get them." And, just like those amateur poets, the writer/director might look back on In the Land of Women in a few years and feel a slight twinge of embarrassment.
