Georgia Rule “swerves and spins, taking its predictable plot in some surprising directions,” says N.Y. Times critic A.O. Scott. ” Working against its maudlin impulses with lively humor, and at the same time undercutting its laughs with some hard, ugly themes, this movie is neither a standard weepie nor a comforting dramedy. It’s an interesting, maddening mess — not a terrible movie, and by no means a dull one.”
The “incoherence” of it, Scott adds, is in fact “a sign of life, evidence of an emotional energy percolating beneath the glib ‘very special episode√ɬ¢√¢‚Äö¬¨√Ǭù surface. The source of that vitality lies with the actors, and with [director] Gary Marshall√ɬ¢√¢‚Äö¬¨√¢‚Äû¬¢s inclination to give them space and time to explore their characters√ɬ¢√¢‚Äö¬¨√¢‚Äû¬¢ idiosyncrasies.”
Scott may be correct in saying that costar Lindsay Lohan “has been subjected recently to the prurient, punitive gaze of an internet gossip culture that takes special delight in the humiliation of young women with shaky discipline and an appetite for fun,” but let’s remember that the brouhaha lastsummer during the shooting of Georgia Rule was not over rumors of this and that, but about Lohan’s temporary boss, Morgan Creek’s James G. Robinson, being fed up with her inability to show up on the set in the morning and do her work because of too much partying.
I would never begrudge anyone having an appetite for fun (unless their idea of fun means laughing really loudly in sports bars….”ha-ha-ha-ha-ha!”) but anyone who can’t splash water in their face, change their dress shirt, grim up and conduct himself (or herself) like a pro during work hours is a slouching egoistic lame-o, and deserves every internet rumor that comes his or her way.