Mack & Rita

I havent seen this many perfectly good jokes fail to land since VIBES. Why? Bad chemistry, poor timing? Cast is fine, script is good, but by fifteen minutes in i thought so many movies are made but not released - WHY NOT THIS? Ah well, it looked nice.

Fifteen minutes in: "Oh. So it's 'Big' or '13 going on 30' meets 'Freak Friday.' Got it."

The cast is having a good time. I love the costume design, and the hair and makeup work. The production design and art direction are pretty swell. There are themes here about being true to oneself, and the shallowness of social media and "influencers"; far less well articulated are any Big Ideas about treating the elderly well, and not talking down to them, or some such that the movie barely touches upon. The screenplay can claim some minor cleverness and mild, lighthearted humor. It's well made from a technical standpoint, including visual effects, editing, and cinematography, even if such elements are sometimes employed to ends that are just overdone.

I'd like to have more to say about 'Mack & Rita,' and specifically, something more substantive. This, however, is not a movie of substance - at least, none that we haven't seen before, and none that we can't predict nearly from the very start. There are also times when the feature works extra hard to avoid substance and just be as bombastic as it can, except the results of such instances are mostly not fun or funny, just overcooked or altogether obnoxious. (Like, really obnoxious; the first point of comparison to come to mind was John Leguizamo's 1997 misstep 'The pest,' except without the deliberate offensiveness.) Alternatively, the last scene, that tries to wrap up the story in a nutshell of whatever substance was previously lacking, is simply too drawn out.

This isn't to say that it's bad, or dull. It's not! It's really not! I do like this; it's passably entertaining, and everyone put in a lot of hard work on it. Only - it's just not anything special, and it doesn't have any especial spark to make it pop. No doubt many other viewers will get much more out of 'Mack & Rita'; I'm glad for them, and they should. For the average viewer, however, this is something very light and fluffy to watch on a very lazy day, if at all. Maybe that's all it needs to be, but I still rather wish it were something more remarkable.

A successful but somewhat confused 30 Year Old Writer MACK (Elizabeth Lail) is in a Rut. Got Writers Block and the Dear Colorful Grandmother that raised her is Gone. A Bit of a Loner anyway she needs boost of confidence for Book Number 2. Same Week Her Best Friend is Having Bachelorette Fling in Palm Springs. Here though Loyal to her friends she still feels left out and decides to See a Zen Regression Guru LUCA (Simon Rex) who magically transforms Her into RITA (Diane Keaton) the 70 Year Old she thinks is trapped in her 30 year old body ? A Body Switch like in BIG. The script is pretty crazy from here especially Social Media wise. Both the Young and Old fall for next door neighbor Dog Watcher JACK (Dustin Milligan) one of few male characters in Movie. Mack & Rita each have 3 support friends Mack from Birth but Rita finds her 3 at a Wine Club Lunch hosted by CARLA's Mom. CARLA (Taylour Paige) is the one getting married and she is convinced MACK has become RITA .

So in Summary a Bunch of Actresses of various AGE and A Handsome Dude Drink Wine and Eat Jumbo Shrimp leading to a Wedding and SWEET Ending ! Worked for me especially impressed with MACK (Lail) , nice job on dialogue. Ensemble Cast. Costume Department Thumbs Up. Flashy Outfits !

Diane Keaton Producer and was likely on Set for Ending Scenes. Maybe doing a little Coaching ?

The Director (Katie Aselton) is also an Actress.

This is the only movie, in my entire 59 years, that I've EVER walked out on!!!

Possibly the WORST movie ever made.

I love Diane Keaton and it hurt my heart that she was part of such a trite and poorly written film.

Horrible from start to finish!

Save yourself. Stay home. Watch the grass grow. Go see a different movie. Try a new restaurant. But DO NOT SEE THIS MOVIE. I warned you...go see where the crawdads sing.