MOVIE MUSIC UK

Original Review by Jonathan Broxton

A romantic comedy which is one part sweet and entertaining, yet one part highly irritating, director Michael Lehmann’s chick flick was one of the successes of the early part of the year. Mandy Moore stars as Milly Wilder, a young chef whose lackluster love life is cause for concern for her overbearing, overprotective mother Daphne (Diane Keaton); so, in a last-ditch attempt to finally find a dream husband for her daughter, Daphne begins auditioning potential suitors, and forces straight-laced architect Jason (Tom Everett Scott) in Milly’s direction.

Meanwhile, and without Daphne’s knowledge, Milly begins dating jazz musician Johnny (Gabriel Macht) – the polar opposite of Jason, but in whom Milly sees a future… The sweet and entertaining parts all revolve around Mandy Moore, who is a talented comedic actress with a sweet smile and an appealing screen presence. The irritating parts all revolve around Diane Keaton, who is simply awful: screechy, chaotic, and whose physical comedy timing seems to have completely abandoned her.

The score for Because I Said So is by rom-com veteran David Kitay, who seems to recapturing some of his 1980s glory off the back of hits such as this film, Bad Santa and Date Movie. Kitay’s music is light and unassuming, focusing expressive acoustic guitar writing to capture the modern setting, occasional sensitive string and piano writing for the more low-key romantic moments, and several boisterous and jazzy romps for when Diane Keaton is doing her schtick (“Computers”, “Spy Mom”). There’s often a distinct calypso vibe, notably in the infectious “Weddings and Things”, while cues such as “Chemistry” and “Mothers Love Advice and Boy” are more emotionally.

The widely-available song CD features a series of actually highly enjoyable cuts, notably the groovy “Black Horse and the Cherry Tree” by KT Tunstall, and several by the classic all-girl R&B group The Shirelles, while the less-widespread score CD features 25 brief but enjoyable cues from Kitay.

Rating; ***

Track Listing:

• Love Is Coming (1:11)
• Weddings and Things (1:16)
• Ice Cream Can Be Cold (1:56)
• Please Talk To Me (2:42)
• Hearts and Hands (1:37)
• God Invented Mothers (1:20)
• Pretty Windows Maybe (2:03)
• Candlesticks (2:31)
• Answer It and Talk (1:13)
• Personals and Other Looks (1:34)
• Your Kid (0:48)
• I Never Did (1:22)
• Your What (1:03)
• Chemistry (1:35)
• What Kind Of Oil (0:50)
• Clean Lines and Wishes (1:26)
• Computers (1:52)
• Spy Mom (1:37)
• Mothers Love Advice and Boy (4:26)
• Bracelets and Boys (0:40)
• Conference Calls (1:13)
• Be Right There (0:46)
• Whistling Couch (2:29)
• There Is Time For You (1:02)
• I Should’ve Known It Was He (1:40)

Running Time: 40 minutes 12 seconds

Bulletproof Records BPF 1022 (2007)