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Diane Keaton, Mandy Moore, Gabriel Macht, Tom Everett Scott, Lauren Graham ... see more see more... , Piper Perabo , Stephen Collins , Ty Panitz , Matt Champagne , Zachary Gordon , Colin Ferguson , Tony Hale , Sophina Brown , Karen Leigh Hopkins , Emily Maisano , Gerald Downey , Ingrid Sanai Buron , Satya Lee , Alexis Rhee , Tuan Shu Lan , Steven E. Little , John Ross Bowie , Parvesh Cheena , Doug Budin , William Belli , Carlo Michael Mancini , Mary Pat Gleason , Judi Barton , Rudolph Willrich , David Purdham , P.J. Byrne , Edith Jefferson , Holly Westen , Nate Petre , Allison Caetano , Chris Monberg

Diane Keaton stars as a unconditionally loving, but meddling, mother whose vain attempt to prevent her insecure youngest daughter from repeating the same mistakes that she made leads to a series of co... read more read more...mic misunderstandings in director Michael Lehmann's affectionate family comedy. When it comes to the topic of motherhood, Daphne Wilder (Keaton) has seen it all. Her eldest daughter, Maggie (Lauren Graham), is a highly respected psychologist and her middle daughter, Mae (Piper Perabo), is both sexy and smart, but youngest Milly (Mandy Moore) just can't seem to get things right no matter how hard she tries. Recognizing that the romantic exploits of her charming-but-struggling youngest always seem to end in tears, concerned mother Daphne vows to find Millie the perfect man. Though she always means well, Daphne's misguided attempt to set her daughter up by placing a carefully worded personal ad proves once and for all that even the most well-intending of mothers can sometimes overstep their boundaries. ~ Jason Buchanan, Rovi

Flixster Users

68% liked it

484,748 ratings

Critics

5% liked it

156 critics

PG-13, 1 hr. 41 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: 32,865 reviews

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Gabriel Macht Because I Said So (2007) Because I Said So Because I Said So (L to R) Daphne Wilder (DIANE KEATON) and her daughters--Milly (MANDY MOORE), Maggie (LAUREN GRAHAM) and Mae (PIPER PERABO)--prepare for a quick song in Because I Said So (2007) Because I Said So Mandy Moore Mandy Moore Because I Said So Because I Said So Because I Said So Scene from BECAUSE I SAID SO Scene from BECAUSE I SAID SO Because I Said So (L to R) The three Wilder sisters--Maggie (LAUREN GRAHAM), Mae (PIPER PERABO) and Milly (MANDY MOORE)--discuss their well-meaning but overbearing mother, Daphne in Because I Said So (2007) Because I Said So Because I Said So Because I Said So
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Flixster Reviews (32,865)

  • romy861
    January 1, 2012
    romy861
    This is just a really nice chick flick about 3 sisters, (Lauren Graham, Mandy Moore and Piper Perabo). They have a slightly controlling mother, Daphne, (Diane Keaton), who has been single herself many years and has become worried about Millie (Mandy Moore) and the bad choices she... read more keeps making in men (her sisters are happily married). Worried that Millie will end up alone like herself, Daphne secretly writes an online personal ad and then interviews all the men. Her choice is Jason, a slightly arrogant professional guy (lawyer maybe? Can't remember), but she also meets a charming musician and single dad, Johnny, by chance.
    Daphne sets it up so Millie and Jason can meet, without Millie realizing her mum set it up, but Johnny fixes it so he also "Accidently" meets Millie. The rest of the movie is Millie trying to figure out which guy she wants, and the fury when she enevitibly finds out what Daphne did. Okay, it's a no brainier, but I enjoyed this and Millie is a likeable, though flawed character, digging herself into a mess by sleeping with both the guys.
    Daphne is also likeable, and sympathetic in her way. A nice story about female relationships with a few laughs and some beautiful looking cakes.
  • murphmann93
    June 23, 2011
    murphmann93
    I really liked this film. Diane Keaton is always the best type of actress to play a mother as she's extremely funny. Both of the guys were good to look at and even though you genuinely knew
  • jennifxu
    May 29, 2011
    jennifxu
    I was so, so surprised to find that a) this was not directed by Nancy Meyers, and b) it was directed by the same guy who directed The Truth About Cats and Dogs. Oh well, you win some, you lose some. And this one is definitely a loss - I watch my fair share of bad and really bad m... read moreovies, but there was something about this one that just made me not sad but angry. The cheese music that had to play every couple seconds a quasi-emotion showed up, Diane Keaton acting a damn fool, the stupid slapstick trips and falls and oh my god gag gag gag. Bland mixes with bland mixes with bland. This is upper crust suburbanite at its very, very worst.
  • FrizzDrop
    November 23, 2010
    FrizzDrop
    Just plain boring. Diane Keaton, though lovably neurotic throughout the seventies and eighties, has become a bit of a typecast in roles better suited for lesser actresses. This one in particular, that of a nosy mother who blatantly meddles in her daughters' lives, is meant for so... read moremeone without the chutzpah that Keaton is so well known for. Her supporting cast is seasoned for these sort of films, meant for them. It's that difference in talent that truly makes the film sad to watch.
  • arashxak
    September 6, 2008
    arashxak
    Just a few bearable moments otherwise a ridiculous & predictable movie, And Keaton & Moore are really annoying, why? Because I Said So
  • kiriyamakazou
    June 17, 2008
    kiriyamakazou
    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 moreto 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.
  • deano
    October 13, 2007
    deano
    So funny, charming and romantic with Diane Keaton and Mandy Moore as the mother and daughter that made me laugh so much. I see Diane Keaton has never change in her latest comedy movie, still wearing glasses and long sleeves all the times and I really like her.
  • dreamfaeries
    June 14, 2007
    dreamfaeries
    Fantastically cute...
  • gatorgirl13
    May 18, 2007
    gatorgirl13
    I loved this movie. The guy Mandy ends up with is very likeable.
  • jeffboam
    August 10, 2010
    jeffboam
    Because the premise had great potential?because the cast was highly acclaimed?because the whole she-bang smacked of an intelligent comedy?because the sum of these parts only amounted to one hell of a mess, Because I Said So is a giant lesson in disappointment. Disjointed, long, a... read morend formulaic to the point that the audience could watch it blindfolded, this movie cannot not even decide what type of comedy it wanted to be. What should have been a witty romantic comedy quickly descends into a wit-less slap-shtick, reducing the legendary Diane Keaton to a pratfall-prone buffoon in the process.

    In the PG-13-rated comedy Because I Said So, Keaton plays an overzealous mother hell-bent to find a proper suitor for her youngest and unmarried daughter (Moore), all the while unknowingly searching for love herself.

    Keaton works best in an ensemble comedy (Something?s Gotta Give, for instance, garnered her an Oscar nomination) and Because I Said So stacks the deck with the talented roster of Moore, Lauren Graham, and Piper Perabo to play her impossibly gorgeous daughters. If this reviewer could qualify a film based solely on it including a scene of the cast exchanging one-liners in their panties, the film would be a 4-star affair, but alas: Everybody here seemed game for a good comedy, but the story works in so many I Love Lucy-esque bits for Keaton to sell through that the ensemble could only stand by and wince in pain?not at the clowning, but at the fact that they signed off on the ridiculous script.

    Bottom line: One giant lesson in disappointment.

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Critic Reviews

Richard Roeper
February 20, 2007
Richard Roeper, Ebert & Roeper

I hated this movie. I think it's the worst performance of Diane Keaton's career.

Richard Schickel
February 6, 2007
Richard Schickel, TIME Magazine

If you don't expect too much of it, you may find yourself pleasantly -- all right, soothingly -- surprised by it. Full Review

Tom Charity
February 3, 2007
Tom Charity, CNN.com

Recycling every cliche in the rom-com handbook, it's clear from the very first that Lehmann has sacrificed his characters on the altar of sappy endings. What a waste -- for everybody. Full Review

Joe Morgenstern
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

Claudia Puig
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

Susan Walker
February 2, 2007
Susan Walker, Toronto Star

Diane Keaton has a lot to answer for in her willingness to portray Hollywood's idea of middle-aged womanhood. Full Review

Mick LaSalle
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

Carrie Rickey
February 2, 2007
Carrie Rickey, Philadelphia Inquirer

Keaton is a national treasure, always worth the visit even when, as is the case of Because I Said So, her movie isn't.

Roger Moore
February 2, 2007
Roger Moore, Orlando Sentinel

There's a charming bonhomie among the sisters, and there are cute touches to the romances. Full Review

Lisa Rose
February 2, 2007
Lisa Rose, Newark Star-Ledger

The jokes are crude and repetitious. Full Review

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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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