*Carter Webb: I pride myself on being this great listener, but whenever I meet somebody new I find I'm doing all the talking.

Sarah Hardwicke: Maybe you're not really such a great listener.

Carter Webb: Hmm?

Sarah Hardwicke: Maybe you're not such a great listener.

Carter Webb: No that's not it, I'm a great listener.



In the Land of Women
Starring Adam Brody, Kristen Stewart, Meg Ryan
Written and Directed by Jonathan Kasdan


THE CASE: After his girlfriend breaks up with him, a twentysomething TV writer (soft-core porn to be exact) leaves L.A. and heads for suburban Detroit to spend time with his grandma and repair his damage soul -- leading him right into the lives of a mother and daughter who are equally as damaged and together they find the meaning of love and life again.


THE GOOD: In the Land of Women reminds me why I want to be a screenwriter. This film is perfect... I love this film. I know I am a sucker for films about people in search of “something missing” -- but I am telling you, this film is extremely well done. Everything is right on. First of, the film is written and directed by Jonathan Kasdan (son of acclaimed writer/director Lawrence Kasdan) with such insight and detail to human emotion that it is scary. The story is simple, but the key is his characters are complex -- just like his father’s were in The Big Chill. They come off as real people with real problems and that is why we fall in love with them. Each scene is eloquently executed and the casting is dead on with Adam Brody (The O.C.) playing a self-contradicting writer, Meg Ryan as a mother dealing with cancer with a happy facade, and the lovely Kristen Stewart playing a teenage girl who like all teenagers is trying to make sense of the world. I can’t stress enough how well written and directed this film is.


THE BAD: None. Flawless piece of work.


THE LAW: In the Land of Women joins the ranks of Say Anything..., Jerry Maguire, and Chungking Express as one of my most favorite films. Cameron Crowe is my favorite writer/director, but Jonathan Kasdan is giving me doubts about that. It doesn’t matter if you are a guy or a girl -- go see In the Land of Women, you will not be sorry and you just might learn something about yourself.