Garry Marshall is highly regarded for his style in pulling of sophisticated comedies ('Pretty Woman', 'The Other Sister', 'Beaches', 'Frankie and Johnny' etc) and for this film he selected a script by an equally respected writer, Mark Andrus ('As Good as it Gets', Divine Secrets of the Ya-Ya Sisterhood', 'Life as a House'). To add to this assured formula he managed to cast some fine actors, and so the audience is left wondering 'What happened?'***

Most people would judge the cover of this DVD to represent a full-blooded comedy. But that is the first blunder. What happens in this film is the examination of a severely dysfunctional family of women: Rachel (Lindsay Lohan) is an oversexed 17 year old tyrant whose alcoholic mother Lilly (Felicity Huffman) can no longer tolerate and ships her miscreant daughter off to the 'hell world' of Lilly's distant controlling mother Georgia (Jane Fonda) to shape Rachel up for college. Georgia of the many rules and rigid lifestyle lives in Idaho and Rachel arrives and immediately plies her bad personality on the folks of the little town, including seducing a soon-to-be Mormon evangelist Harlan (Garrett Hedlund) and shocking the little boys who are cared for by Georgia. Georgia gets Rachel a job as an office girl for Dr. Ward (Dermot Mulroney) who is an ex-lover of Lilly but a role model for the town since his wife and son's accidental death. Rachel decides to get back at her mother and her stepfather Arnold (Cary Elwes) by explaining her misbehavior to Simon: her stepfather sexually abused her from age 12 to 14. In an attempt to help Rachel's family heal, Simon informs Georgia who informs Lilly about the abuse and Lilly responds by leaving Arnold to return to Idaho, cut her hair, and give in to drinking wholeheartedly. Was Lilly's confession true or fabricated? This question serves as the climax that brings about changes in everyone. The point is dulled by the fact that we never really care about any of these involved characters, so shallow is the writing that could have salvaged a story by fleshing out potentially interesting characters. ***

Commentary by Garry Marshall talking about his film which is funny and interesting overall, Deleted scenes, gag reel, "The Making of Georgia Rule" and "The Women of Georgia Rule" featurettes are interesting to say the least about the making of this movie,On the Set with Garry Marshall in which cast and crew talk about the making of film.

Final Words:

The cast is so good that they give it their all to try to save this sinking ship of a film. We want to praise Fonda and Huffman but their roles simply don't allow the actors to go very far. Marshall has worked with many of these actors before (even Hector Elizondo is given a very tiny part!) but this time the cake doesn't rise. Worth viewing for the opportunity to see some very good actors given a few moments of valid screen time.

Grady Harp, September 07