Diane Keaton, Gabriel Macht, Lauren Graham

A meddling mother (Keaton) tries to set her daughter (Moore) up with the right man so her kid won't follow in her footsteps.

Flixster Users

68% liked it

141,001 ratings

Critics

5% liked it

153 critics

PG-13, 1 hr. 42 min.

Directed by: Michael Lehmann

Release Date: February 2, 2007

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DVD Release Date: May 8, 2007

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Stats: 32,376 reviews

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Flixster Reviews (32,376)


  • December 1, 2008
    Surprisingly effective comedy with Keaton playing the overprotective Mom perfectly.
  • June 22, 2008
    Do yourself a favor and don't see this movie. Horrendous and unfunny.
  • June 17, 2008
    Diane Keaton plays the overbearing psychotic mother that only exists in Hollywood, but when women sit round with their own mums they are quick to point out how "true" it all is. Keaton a fine actress but this character needs to be shot in the fucking face. Scratch that she needs ...( read more)to be tortured, maybe a movie cross-over with Saw. Not only is she the most irritating character since Chris Tucker in The Fifth Element she is painfully stereotyped. Watch her struggle with technology it's a hoot. Luckily in the second half she calms down a lot, one scene is even quite sweet where she doesn't talk. HURRAH. Mandy Moore is just outsstanding, it's a great performance for a naive and broken young lass who could have come across as slutty had it not been for Moores awesome cuteness. The two male love interests are...well one's an absolute arse and the other's cool and sensitive with a hyperactive son. Ooh I wonder who will make the final lovey speech in front of strangers at the end. (It's the cool one). Annoying, adhering to a strict formula and occasionally funny. Yep it's a rom-com.
  • March 20, 2008
    This is a weak, romantic comedy that could only be more predictable if you had seen it before. For humour, they use a lot of clumsy spills and exaggerated overreactions that havent been funny for me since I stopped having recess. The male characters are giant neon signs announcin...( read more)g everything about them so that you could predict the film from across the street. There are a couple amusing scenes with Keatons character chatting candidly with her daughters about everything from lingerie, to female orgasms, to cut vs uncut (yes those), but its not amusing enough to make the rest of this film worth enduring. Diane Keaton is Daphne, a single mother with three grown daughters who becomes concerned over her youngest, Milly (Mandy Moore). Milly seems unable to find a good man and Daphnes implausible answer is to find a man for her and engineer their meeting. The plan seems foolproof (Yeah, right) until Milly meets another man on her own, who turns out to be one that mom has already rejected, while Mom has her own handsome successful choice for her duaghter. My Goodness! How zany! How will it all end? Keaton, an experienced and talented actress, completely blows this role with an exaggerated over-the-top, slapstick performance, but Katherine Hepburn and Meryl Streep combined couldnt save this lame-ass script.
  • February 3, 2008
    Pending Review...

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  • October 31, 2009
    !Comercial or Stupid! :|
  • October 26, 2009
    Add a review (optional)...
  • October 19, 2009
    I had forgot i had seen this and then saw it again and it was like deja vu. Ha! but it was a different movie.
  • October 14, 2009
    Daphne Wilder is a mother whose love knows no bounds or boundaries. She is the proud mom of three daughters: stable psychologist Maggie, sexy and irreverent Mae and insecure, adorable Milly - who, when it comes to men, is like psychotic flypaper. In order to prevent her youngest ...( read more)from making the same mistakes she did, Daphne decides to set Milly up with the perfect man. Little does Milly know, however, that her mom placed an ad in the on-line personals to find him. Comic mayhem unfolds as Daphne continues to do the wrong thing for the right reasons...all in the name of love. In a battle of strong wills, the mother-daughter dynamic is tested in all its fierce, wacky complexity. The girls help Daphne finally discover the truths and impossibilities of motherly love, all while trying to answer the questions: where does it begin and where should it end?
  • October 6, 2009
    this one is good. with a delicious guy and mandy moore

Critic Reviews


February 2, 2007
Joe Morgenstern, Wall Street Journal

As almost everyone knows by now, the early part of the year has become a dumping ground for dreadful movies. Still, Because I Said So constitutes unusually toxic waste. full review

February 2, 2007
Claudia Puig, USA Today

It's so derivative, unfunny and thuddingly bad that it's one of the more cringe-inducing movies of a genre chock-full of clunkers. full review

February 2, 2007
Moira MacDonald, Seattle Times

Spark? Romance? Wit? Nope, sorry. full review

February 2, 2007
Mick LaSalle, San Francisco Chronicle

Bette Davis and Joan Crawford, when they reached a certain age, played harridans and ax murderers. Diane Keaton has started playing mothers, but, alas, the effect is about the same: She's scary. Very ... full review

February 2, 2007
Amy Biancolli, Houston Chronicle

My motherly advice is: Skip it. full review

February 2, 2007
A.O. Scott, The New York Times

Because I Said So is an exercise in deliberate mediocrity, with chuckles and heartwarming moments distributed as carefully as nuts in a factory-made brownie.

February 1, 2007
Stephanie Zacharek, Salon.com

If these are the only kinds of roles we can conceive for actresses who have grown into their faces, as Keaton has, it's no wonder so many younger performers are seeking the knife. full review

February 1, 2007
Colin Covert, The Minneapolis Star Tribune

The best moments aren't belly laughs (there are a couple of those, too) but the jokes that ring uncomfortably true. full review

View more Because I Said So reviews at RottenTomatoes.com

Comments


  • fatmauae
    March 19, 2009
    funny and Interesting movie
  • blooona
    April 8, 2008
    greet movie ;*
  • pavacri23
    February 23, 2008
    nothing much of this movie just mandy is so hot
  • raechello
    January 29, 2008
    There wasn't much to this movie. It was alright. I wouldn't say it was bad. It had nothing too special about it. But easy to watch, which makes it something good when you have nothing better to do but don't want to watch something that is full of comedy and events and just can't keep up sort of stuff.
    There were afew laughs here and there but pretty much a normal kind of movie. I wouldn't favourite it, or recommend it like crazy to someone ahaaha.
    Good enough to earn itself 3 stars :)
  • Piper05
    September 4, 2007
    This movie is freakin' great. I've watched this four times already. :)
  • imapepper01
    July 7, 2007
    this movie's adorable :)
  • MillyWooMillyBoo
    June 11, 2007
    im dorry but have i told u how much i looove this movie its my fave i love it this is the best movie i have ever seen!!!!!
  • mallak772002
    June 3, 2007
    hello haw are you all
  • keelson
    May 28, 2007
    gotta watch this movie
  • Bannoona
    May 16, 2007
    I would definetly like to see this movie again.I LOVED it.I laughed a lot at all the funny scenes. I knew how the movie would end from the first 10 minutes of watching it but I liked watching it because I adore Diane Keaton & Lauren Graham.
    ( Gabriel Macht )& his father were both so Hot. I am 28years & I would say yes even to the 60 year old father,he was so cute. Gabriel Macht was so charming, almost irresistable.
    what touched me the most is that the Mother-daughter relationship is so much like my relationship with my MOm so it was really funny imaginning myself in Mandy Moore shoes !!

Critic ratings and reviews powered by RottenTomatoes.com

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Because I Said So Trivia


  • In "Because I Said So" which three actresses play Diane Keaton's daughters?  Answer »
  • Which actress has appeared in all of the following films: Chasing Liberty, A Walk to Remember and Because I Said So?  Answer »
  • in what movie did mandy moore co-star with diane keaton?  Answer »
  • what 2007 movie did mandy moore and diane keaton both play in ?  Answer »

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