Never mind how many times you have seen Nicholson play roguish roles, you may find it difficult to resist him in Something's Gotta Give.

The comedy gets even a higher profile due to a superb performance by a radiant Diane Keaton. She is wonderfully convincing in a protracted sequence in which she has to weep, sob, yell and cry. For carrying the scene with great naturalness and conviction, she deserves an Oscar nomination. The movie should instantly rejuvenate her career.
In fact it is even more difficult to resist this film about cradle snatching and unexpected romantic turns, despite its predictability, contrived situations and overdrawn climax.

The lively and insightful performances in the movie, even from younger artists like Amanda Peet, and fast-paced situations (for the most part) further consolidate the position of Nancy Meyers as a director of intriguing comedies.

Having made such interesting, though not terribly original, films as What Women Want and Parent Trap, Meyers is in an enviable position now after working with Keaton and Nicholson, two of the most talented actors in Hollywood. What results is a romantic comedy with a few unexpected twists. This is the third film directed by Meyers, who is also the writer of the hit movies, Private Benjamin and Father Of The Bride. This film could easily be her hat-trick hit. 

Nicholson plays a record label executive who has a wild heart. He is dating Marin (Amanda Peet) who, as the cliché goes, could be described as young enough to be his daughter. Harry and Marin arrive at the manor of Marin's mother Erica (Diane Keaton).

But their agenda for a lustful weekend runs into trouble when Erica and her unorthodox sister Zoe (Frances McDormand) too turn up. There is plenty of embarrassment around, with each party offering to vacate the manor but they stay put, leading to the contrived situation when Harry has a heart attack during foreplay.

At the hospital, a young doctor (Keanu Reeves) develops the hots for Erica, even though she is considerably older than him. 

But funny complications follow when Harry and Erica are brought together, and he starts liking her insights into life -- and in a way, he finds her sexy and sensuous too. He then begins to forget his passion for the daughter.

Meyers ignites plenty of spontaneous chemistry between Nicholson and Keaton, making us believe they are the sexiest, happiest couple in the world. But not before showing them at each other's throat.

Meyers also deserves praise for breaking the May-September romance formula by making a young man play for an older woman. This is not the first time such a romance has been shown in Hollywood. In Summer Of 42, for instance, young boys were drawn to an older and sensuous woman.

To see Keanu Reeves' character fall for a woman who is some 20 years older is something new. 

Where Meyers falters is in her enthusiasm to make everything look sunny and bright. Harry suffers a couple of heart attacks but those incidents, like many things in the movie, are of superficial nature.

Some of the movie's characters could have been given strength. Though Keaton's character is quite formidable, the director does not make one believe that she is a great Broadway playwright. We don't know if Erica has sold some screenplays to Hollywood; perhaps she has, by the look of her opulent manor.

And though Frances McDormand is lively and energetic as the younger sister of Erica she has too few scenes.

CREDITS
Cast: Jack Nicholson, Diane Keaton, Keanu Reeves, Frances McDormand, Amanda Peet, Jon Favreau
Writer-Director: Nancy Meyers
Rating: PG-13 (parents strongly cautioned) for nudity and profanity
Running time: 1 hour 50 minutes
Distributor: Columbia Pictures