"BECAUSE I SAID SO" (2007) ..... B- ... While most critics have roundly trashed this movie, I found much to like about it. This is in spite of the fact that the wonderful Diane Keaton is becoming typecast as a usually single and always uptight mother of romantic leads with perhaps some love left on the table for herself. This movie follows the earlier Keaton vehicles, "The Family Stone" and "Something's Gotta Give." Practically everyone would agree that "Something's Gotta Give" is the best of the three, but I have enjoyed all of them.

Yes, this movie certainly does have its flaws with too many trite scenes, forced comedic situations, poorly developed minor characters, and a higher level of noise than what I would have liked. Well, subtlety is hardly the forte of the American romantic comedy. On the other hand, it also has warm family scenes with many touching moments of sibling affection. Furthermore, the wonderful chemistry between Milly (Mandy Moore) and Johnny (Gabriel Macht), the two well-cast romantic leads, elevates this film above its many problems.

While Diane Keaton receives top billing, it is Mandy Moore as Milly who anchors this movie. She offers a very fine performance as a successful caterer who is less discerning in the art of love. Heartfelt, passionate and sometimes a little indecisive, Milly is easy to love. Moore is excellent in her role as the unwed daughter who has inherited her mother's cooking ability. Moore just sparkles with passion and personality. The camera loves her and we love her too.

The likable and respected Diane Keaton as Milly's mother is the main reason for most of us to see this film. Her character, Daphne Wilder, while well intentioned, isn't always a sympathetic person, but many of us can identify with this overbearing, manipulative mother. We either have a mother like Daphne, know a mother like Daphne, or have married into a family with a mother like Daphne.

Yes, Daphne is over the top, but so are many mothers, especially ethnic mothers, who I have met and observed in my life. They come from the old school where no degree of a daughter's success can compare to seeing her in a stable relationship with a man in her life. Daphne's attitudes are reinforced by the fact that her husband had divorced her many years before. She was left a single mom to raise her three daughters by herself, and she doesn't want her daughters to repeat her mistakes.

One of the main flaws of this film is that it has been over-directed by Michael Lehman. I can visualize practically every harsh scene and redirect it with the exact same verbiage, only tone down the level of discourse, and we would have ended up with an entirely different movie. Another flaw is that the relationship between Daphne and Johnny's dad (Stephen Collins) is not as well developed as it should have been. Other than their loneliness, the foundation isn't there for making us believe that Joe and Daphne are meant for each other. A few choice sentences of dialogue could have gone a long way to help us out in this instance. I criticize writers Hopkins and Nelson for missing on this.

Neither is the character of Jason (Tom Everett Scott) fleshed out well enough to convince us that he could possibly have made an alternate, or even a desirable, suitor for Milly. This architect that Daphne lines up as a possible husband for her daughter does have, as Johnny says, "empty eyes." We don't get to know him, so he quickly drops in our esteem in spite of his contemporary penthouse apartment with its gorgeous views of the city. We come to believe that his financial security is perhaps his only attraction. While this may be of great importance to Daphne, it is obvious to us that it should not count for much with Milly, as she is already a successful businesswoman.

Finally, I do love the sibling relationships. The three sisters are great together. They really love each other and their dialogue rings true. Milly, Maggie (Lauren Graham), the married psychiatrist with the demanding patient, and Mae (Piper Parabo), the younger married sister, are all different, but they share a love and a loyalty for each other that is a pleasure to watch. 102 minutes and rated PG-13 for sexual content including dialogue, some mature thematic material, and partial nudity.