Film Review: Georgia Rule

Jane Fonda’s last few films have been total losers. I have to wonder if she is desperate for money or simply has too much time on her hands. In this film she plays the part of a grandmother called Georgia. She has her rules for everything and therefore the title. Nobody dares swear in front of her or they have a bar of soap shoved in their mouth. You wash any dish you use. On the other hand she is loving and caring with the two neighborly boys who seem to almost live at her house. She thinks nothing of taking a baseball bat to her son-in-law when she realizes he has abused her granddaughter.
It is a film of three generations of women in a family all coming to terms with their relationships. Initially we meet Rachel played by Lindsay Lohan. I had read a lot about this young lady in the entertainment news. Apparently Lindsay is a big party girl in Hollywood and was always late for work. You have probably read about her and her good friend Paris Hilton. They have made a profession of party going. She was censured by the director for always being late on the set. I even read in one tabloid that Jane Fonda told her off for her attitude. You almost think she is playing herself in the film. Rachel is a troubled young lady. She is absolutely stunning and her body is like a work of art. Her mother Lilly, played by Felicity Huffman can’t deal with her troubled daughter. Lilly herself, doesn’t appear to be an ideal mother. She doesn’t relate to her mother, Georgia, and definitely is at her wits end with her daughter. Rachel is delivered to Idaho to spend the summer with her grandmother. I did find it interesting to meet the town’s characters. Rachel meets the gorgeous Harlan and tries to seduce him. He is a Mormon and has a girlfriend. She becomes totally disruptive in his life. He had pledged to be a virgin until he married. She also meets the handsome veterinarian, Simon. She takes on a job working with him. We learn that he acts the way he does because his wife and child died. Our dear little sex pot, Rachel seems to be ready to seduce any man that she meets in the town. Mom’s husband (Rachel’s stepfather) appears on the scene. Was he a child seducer of Rachel or is Rachel lying when she tells her mother all? Did she in fact seduce him?
I felt the actors did the best job they could with the part. It was interesting to watch the plot evolve and to see three generations begin to come to an understanding of one another. The character development wasn’t totally believable but it was not difficult to sit for 113 minutes and watch. If only Lindsay Lohan’s character was as perfect as her body. The film is okay for a summer entertainment film.