Screen Scene: “In the Land of Women”

“In the Land of Women”

Director Jon Kasdan

Warner Bros. Pictures

(Out Of 5)

Carter Webb (Adam Brody), a naive, nicotine-dependent adult film screenwriter, is getting on a jet plane and leaving for … Michigan.

And so “In the Land of Women” begins.

After being dumped by his so-called true love, rising Hollywood starlet Sophia, Carter is down on his luck and temporarily done with Los Angeles.

When he hears of his grandmother’s declining health, he heads north to care for her as well as his own heartbreak, hoping to wipe the slate clean and finish the novel he never quite got around to starting.

Unfortunately for Grandmother Webb, once he arrives in Michigan, it’s the women across the streets of suburbia that catch Carter’s eyes. Out of loneliness, neighbor Sarah Hardwicke (Meg Ryan), strikes up a quick and unusual friendship with the 20-something and then forces her angst-ridden teenage daughter, Lucy (Kristen Stewart) to do the same.

As Sarah fights breast cancer, a cheating husband and a spiteful daughter, and as Lucy struggles with an increasingly separated family and a confusing love life, Carter finds himself smack in the middle, holding a mother and daughter, separated by much more than years, together by a hair.

While the lives of the main characters may seem overly burdened, this directorial debut from writer Jonathan Kasdan features a number of fine performances.

Brody successfully separates himself from longtime alter ego Seth Cohen of “The O.C.” while remaining true to the many similarities Carter holds to his Newport counterpart.

Brody even steals a number of scenes from veteran Ryan, who strikes a chord in one of her best roles in recent years. Even Stewart is able to add depth to her cardboard cut-out character Lucy.

However, not even the most charming of performances could save this script. In the end, the film’s downfall is its story.

Although the length of Carter’s stay in Michigan is never clearly mentioned, the relationships formed between him and both Lucy and Sarah, especially, feel rushed and contrived.

Sarah’s many layers of turmoil seem stacked up, one on top of another for (unsuccessful) dramatic effect, and are left largely unresolved.

It is hard to discern the main angle of “In the Land of Women.” The story of a mother and daughter reunited once again? The tale of a young man finally growing up in body, mind and even soul? Whatever Kasdan’s goal, it is left unrealized for another day and another sick grandmother.

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