MACK & RITA – Review

I’ve you’ve got a bit of cinema nostalgia in your psyche, then this week’s new (but also old) release just might be your movie memory escape route. This flick’s plot has its roots in lots of early film comedies. I’ll offer a bit of a personal spin as my earliest movie theatre memory is seeing GOODBYE CHARLIE in which the late womanizing BFF of Tony Curtis returns as Debbie Reynolds, a gender-flip reused 17 years later in the Blake Edwards spoof SWITCH (whew, I am aging myself). Speaking of age, that was the big variation of that concept that really took hold in the 1980s with fathers becoming their sons and vice-versa in LIKE FATHER LIKE SON and, well, VICE VERSA. But the big one was 1988’s BIG that veered away a bit in that a young lad suddenly became a 30-something Tom Hanks. Of course, the idea was exploited in TV movies and sitcoms (didn’t translate) and had a bit of a comeback nearly 20 years ago with the remake of FREAKY FRIDAY and 13 GOING ON 30. Now it’s time, or so some producers believe, for a new “upgrade” as a younger woman changes and passes herself off as another person (a Jekyll and Hyde element) as she tries to be both MACK & RITA.

The initial focus is on the former, “Mack” AKA Mackenzie Martin, as we see her as a pre-teen completely awed by her “Grammie” Martin (Catherine Carlen), even emulating her attitude and fashion sense. And though GM is now a memory, thirty-something Mack (Elizabeth Lail) is still kind of an “old soul” She’s a writer who hasn’t really followed up her debut book, so she’s a “social media influencer” posing with and writing about products and companies that contact her hustling agent (Patti Harrison). Mack’s being pushed out of her “comfort zone” by her BFF Carla (Taylour Paige) who has asked her to be her maid of honor and join her and the bridesmaids for a pre-wedding getaway to Santa Barbara at the temporarily vacant house of a friend of her mother Sharon (Loretta Devine). After an awkward goodbye to her hunky building “super” Jack (Dustin Milligan) who’ll housesit and take care of her pooch, Mack heads to SB with the gals…and is soon “out of sync” with their “hard-partying” agenda. Strolling through town, Mack spots a big tent in a vacant lot with a sign promising a “regression pod experience”. She opts for that while Carla and the girls hit a “pop-up” concert. Inside the tent, “new age guru” Luka (Simon Rex) takes her charge card and places her into a “revamped” tanning bed. As Luka does his “standard” chant, he sends Mack into “dreamland”. When she awakes Mack looks in the mirror and sees a several-decades-older face (Diane Keaton) staring back. Luka’s long gone, so she heads back to the “vacay house”. After much pleading, Carla accepts that this is the new Mack. They then hatch a plan: Mack is now her aunt Rita, who has switched apartments with her because Mack is on a writer’s retreat. Back in LA, Sharon introduces Rita to her book/wine club (Wendie Malick, Lois Smith, and Amy Hill) and Mack’s agent enlists her for a new promo gig. And she’s a hit. Plus Jack has a thing for the confident classy Rita, Still, she’s got to find Luka and return to her old self. But as the days pass, will Rita’s new fame wreck her friendship with Carla? What to do, since the world seems to like Rita more than Mack?

Needless to say, it’s always a treat to see Ms. Keaton back on the big screen to dazzle us with her talents as she elevates every film project, despite the material. And this is pretty mediocre stuff as she seems to be back in POMS and BOOK CLUB territory even as she recalls her iconic work in ANNIE HALL and SOMETHING’S GOTTA GIVE. Many of the contrived sitcom slapstick antics are tired and tepid despite her best efforts, though she has a great rapport with all of her co-stars. Lail appears to be mimicking her delivery which puts us at a distance from the Mack character, never making her seem more than a script construct. Paige has a nice energetic spirit even as we wonder why such a bubbly fun woman would spend so much time pushing her pal into the world. Rex, a force of nature in RED ROCKET, can’t make Luka into anything more than a “hippie” cliche. Devine, Malick, Smith, and Hill are a terrific group who deserve to be more than a glorified Greek chorus/cheerleading squad. Milligan is a serviceable love interest, though his Jack is really affable “eye candy”, with no insight into his feelings for Rita (does he detect Mack in her). Oh, and don’t be fooled by the IMDB listing of Martin Short in the film as he only lends his voice to a drippy fantasy sequence.

The confident direction from Kate Aselton tells the tale in a fairly straightforward fashion, though many of the supporting players seem to be mugging and shouting their lines as though they’re trapped in an 80s sitcom (three cameras with sweetened responses). The script often feels as though it were “stitched” from the first three episodes of a failed pilot, with clumsy conflicts (Carla is too miffed at Mack/Rita) and big farce setpieces (calamity pilates, scorched wigs). If not for the star power of Keaton this would be more suited for a couple of specialty basic cable channels. Plus the whole idea of an almost instant online sensation stretches any sense of “cyber-reality” with viewers pelting Rita virtually with infinite “hearts”.Plus the budding, hesitant romance between Rita and Jack feels forced and a tad off-kilter. This bit of fluff may be a whimsical fantasy for certain viewers, while many will find little to enjoy with the one-woman team split into MACK & RITA.

One Out of Four

MACK & RITA is now playing in select theatres everywhere