Another gem from my wife randomly picking films from the on demand options from our cable provider. Georgia Rule is a film that has some interesting topics that get lost under odd plot choices. The performances aren’t bad, but the film is definitely missing something. I give Georgia Rule the Not a Total Waste of Time rating.
Georgia Rule could have been really good, but suffers from too much plot nonsense
Rachel (Lindsay Lohan) has been exhibiting some bad behavior while waiting to go off to college. Her mother (Felicity Huffman) sends her to live with her strict grandmother, Georgia (Jane Fonda) for the summer to hopefully straighten her out. The thing is Rachel is hiding a secret that could potentially tear her family apart, or bring them back together.
I didn’t hate Lohan’s performance, but it’s definitely not her strongest. There are some little expressions she does that really make a few scenes matter more. However, some of the dialogue feels delivered poorly or written badly. That particularly feels true for Jane Fonda’s Georgia. The concept of “Georgia Rule” is really not as impactful as one would have expected given the title. It’s just a small example of the characters strict personality. I really think Dermot Mulroney was the saving grace for this film. I enjoyed his character and the role he played in the story.
Georgia should have made a rule to keep it simple
Speaking of the story, it doesn’t get much more convoluted than this. There is a mystery that isn’t a mystery that’s than a mystery again as Rachel keeps changing her story. Ultimately, it doesn’t feel like much of a mystery. The back and forth only gets more mixed up by the random plot points that lead to nowhere. A kiss shared between two characters never gets brought up again. Georgia’s young helpers seem important, but are ultimately just a distraction. Essentially this film is filled with content that goes nowhere. I think there was an interesting story that could have been told, but it’s lost with the chaos.
There was enough good here to keep it out of the Avoid like the Plague rating. The story potential I see and the moments of enjoyable content kept it just above the worst rating I could give. That said, it’s not one I recommend to watch as there are plenty of other films out there to watch. I definitely wish we’d spend the two hours watching something a little better.
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