Review of Something's Gotta Give (2003) by Martin D — 02 Mar 2010

Sixty-three year old Harry has a reputation for dating girls a third his age. Taking Marin, his latest belle, back to her beach house for the weekend he is taken aback when her mother Erica unexpectedly turns up. Suffering a heart attack while romancing Marin, Harry finds himself housebound with Erica his nurse and only companion. As they grudgingly get to know each other something starts to stir, though as the hospital doctor who treated him has taken a shine to Erica, Harry could have serious competition.Harry Sanborn (Jack Nicholson) is a wealthy New York businessman who has had a habit of dating women under 30 for 40 years. When he and his latest conquest, Marin Barry (Amanda Peet), drive to her mother's Hamptons beach house on the coast, his life turns upside down.

Expecting to be alone, Harry and Marin are surprised by Marin's mother, successful playwright Erica Barry (Diane Keaton), and her sister Zoe (Frances McDormand). After an awkward dinner, the night turns disastrous when during foreplay with Marin Harry has a heart attack and is rushed to a hospital. The handsome young doctor, Julian Mercer (Keanu Reeves), tells Harry to stay in the area for a few days, and so Harry ends up staying with Erica. Their differing personalities initially make for awkward living arrangements, until the two begin to get to know each other.

Soon, the two have fallen in love, they live very different lifestyles Erica's determination to be single and independent, and Harry's constant desire for new women and experiences combined with the fact that Harry is dating Marin and Julian has fallen for Erica, leave the two struggling to deal with their current relationships with others, but also work on their own. Marin soon breaks up with Harry after she suspects that he's in love with her mother. The break up is not out of anger, but rather she wants her mother to be able to have a relationship with him and for her own life to move on. Harry and Erica spend more time together and the relationship they have with each other gets even more serious. Harry's improving health means that he no longer has to stay with Erica, and in a very awkward decision, he heads home.