Peace, Love & Misunderstanding

Three talented actresses (Jane Fonda, Catherine Keener and Elizabeth Olsen) provided the drive for this over-simplistic view of intergenerational differences and the search for happiness. While clichés abound, the plots twists can be seen miles away but yet occur in the blink-of-an-eye without any rationalization, and the characters border on being one- dimensional, this movie is a guilty pleasure. I would probably credit the ability to overcome this movie's weaknesses to the acting skills and the on-screen charisma of Ms. Fonda and Ms. Keener.

The male characters are even more one-dimensional than the female leads. The only person to get less to do than the abandoning husband (Kyle MacLachlan) is the talented Patricia Arquette who may have only 1 or 2 lines in the movie which require a double take to confirm her presence. I suspect that post-production was not kind to whatever other dialog must have been originally written for her.

While the movie has many weaknesses, the stellar soundtrack and magnificent cinematography are not among them.

Clocking in at barely over 90 minutes, I would recommend this movie to those who do not mind a little fluff every now and then.

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If you lack motivation or simply are looking for relaxation, you'll like Peace, Love & Misunderstanding. There is nothing groundbreaking in it, nevertheless, the cast delivers an excellent performance. It goes to the extent that even the actors that might annoy you don't bother you throughout the movie.

There is a lot of stereotyping here, but i didn't expect anything else from a romantic comedy involving hippies in Woodstock in the year 2011. Jane Fonda looks like a grandma every teenager would love to have, adorable despite all the escapades. She was the only reason i saw Peace, Love & Misunderstanding and i liked the way Barbarella had aged...

This is a charming movie and could have been much better. Jane Fonda, of course, made it fabulous, both from an acting standpoint and just her very presence. She is amazing. Jeffery Dean Morgan stole every scene he was in, a really intelligent, kind actor. Catherine Keener is so perfectly cast, understated and vulnerable. Their relationship should have gotten more screen time and have been much more developed.

Marissa O'Donnell and Nat Wolff are both adorable here and their relationship together is very believable.

I did not like the role of Elizabeth Olsen. She is an interesting actress, but her dialogue and life experience seemed too mature for her and her relationship with the butcher felt beyond them. Their scenes together did not work and I found myself fast-forwarding through them the second time I watched it.

It is not often that a film appears that looks like it may just be background noise for a lazy evening and turns our to be a jewel of a movie. But that is what happens when discovering PEACE, LOVE AND MISUNDERSTANDING. Written by first timers Christina Mengert and Joseph Muszynski who also are the film's producers, and directed with splendid sensitivity for character and detail by Bruce Beresford (Driving Miss Daisy, Breaker Morant, Tender Mercies, Bride of the Wind, Mao's Last Dance, etc), this is a story that so easily could have dropped of the edge of the cliff as a flop but instead becomes a transporting study of family, of coming of age, of second chances, and of fining self in this often absurd world in which we live. The cast, down to the most minuscule bit player, is outstanding: this film is likely to be a career boost for all involved.

Uptight obsessive compulsive lawyer Diane (Catherine Keener) lives in New York and at film's opening is told by her husband Mark that he wants a divorce. Diane decides to escape the disorganized trauma of that announcement by taking her two teenagers - geeky video camera addict and virginal Jake (Nat Wolff) and vegan daughter Zoe (Elizabeth Olsen) - to visit Diane's hippy mother Grace (Jane Fonda, in a brilliant performance) whom she hasn't seen for 20 years (Grace sold Marijuana to Diane's friends at Diane's wedding and has never been forgiven): Grace lives in Woodstock, a town that has retained its hippie flavor since the 1960s. Thinking they will only stay for a couple of days the visiting fractured family ends up staying on while Diane slowly appreciates the strange and wacky but intensely felt life her mother has embraced. Diane meets Jude (Jeffrey Dean Morgan) who slowly breaks down Diane's carefully controlled existence, Zoe is attracted to the local butcher Cole (Chace Crawford, definitely a talent to watch) and despite her loathing of slaughtering animals for food she gradually discovers similarities in the tow of them, and Jake falls for Tara (Marissa O'Donnell) - his first physical experience. Stir all those ingredients, add some hilarious evening of women howling at the full moon, some surprises in character development, and town full of retro-flowerchild status and the film just soars.

One of the many reasons this film works so well is the outstanding performance by the always beautiful and gifted Jane Fonda, but Keener, Morgan, Olsen, Crawford and Wolff are also in top form. For an American comedy that leaves the viewer feeling on top of the world, this movie has it all.

Grady Harp

Yes, comedy! It's a refreshing look at the culture of the 60's and the cynicism of those who look back and try to make sense of all the facets of American society that were called into question during the period. The facets still exist! Out of it comes a funny portrayal of what the confusion/clarity looked like (looks like) as people worked it out, tried to love one another, and made mistakes, as only humans can...with great intentions all firing at once. Congratulations to the director, the cast, the writers, for this delightful romp. I laughed, learned humility, and relished the human comedy that we are, now, as we try to still (once again) Love over generational lines - adult to child, etc. God Bless you for the effort - I hope those who can relax, let go, without a toke, or with, can enjoy your message for what it is - human - very funny, sometimes just plain dumb. Please do not over intellectualize it, just enjoy the darn thing! This movie actually had a kind of "Doris Day" feel to it. Delightful and simple on the surface, but underneath, lots of some good messages about healing one another. I've read what some critics have said, and I wanna say, go to church, get over yourself, calm down, just enjoy the silliness of life, be reverent - be still. Kids do it and so should we, then we will hear each other!!!!