Review: Georgia Rule
May 18, 2007 | Filed under Reviews
I’ve never hid the fact that I think Lindsay Lohan has the potential to become one of the greatest actresses of her generation. My (now removed) article regarding Lindsay detailed my love for her because despite people’s generally negative opinions on her behaviour in personal matters, I firmly believe she’s actually very very talented.
She shows this in “Georgia Rule”, growing from one of her greatest roles as the mean, but ultimately nice, Cady in “Mean Girls”, to her first real mature role as Rachel the wild trouble-making city-loving young woman with a hidden past. Dressed mainly in virginal white sundresses throughout the movie, Rachel exudes young sexuality from every pore – though she looks innocent, her burgeoning sexuality is a threat to every man who comes into contact with her.
It could be innocent of course, interpreted just as the natural course of a young woman coming to terms with her own body and the power she holds in the palm of her hand. Before long however, you realise that there’s something sinister under the surface – she’s clearly vulnerable under her bravado and you have to wonder why. The answer becomes clear as the movie progresses – she’s been sexually abused by her stepfather since the age of twelve.
As the truth comes out, three generations of women clash over their differences, and everyone on the peripheries of their lives get drawn into it. Rachel’s mother Lily (played by a superb Felicity Huffman) reverts to alcoholism as she battles with Rachel’s revelation and tries to decide whether to believe a daughter who has been nothing but trouble, or a husband who has been nothing but loving. Lily’s mother Georgia (played by Jane Fonda who has become a better actress with age), finds herself as the glue who has to hold her family together after years wrought with tension and miscommunication. Putting aside her devout ways and regimented way of life, she finds that sometimes life throws a curveball, and the best way to approach it is to give up the familiar and embrace the unknown.
Despite the strong performances by the three actresses however, the plot itself is convoluted with many loose threads left hanging. What of the young boy who’s unable to control his erection whenever he sees Rachel? What of Lily’s former relationship with the town veterinarian who happens to treat people as well? What actually happened between the Mormon hickboy ad his ugly girlfriend? The director Garry Marshall would have done better to extend the movie by fifteen minutes just to tie up loose ends.
On the whole however, the movie is enjoyable. With strong performances from the main characters who are given a free rein to run amok with their emotions, the theme of family bonds show that love will always triumph, no matter what the differences.
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