Fantastical age-swap comedy starring Keaton lacks soul
Who doesn’t love Diane Keaton? Or frankly, want to be Diane Keaton? The Oscar-winning star has had a film and television career spanning six decades, she’s a fashion icon, and she’s done it all in her own singularly unique and quirky way. It’s not surprising then, that in the fantastical and fluffy comedy “Mack & Rita,” written by Madeline Walter and Paul Welsh and directed by Katie Aselton, a struggling young writer wishes to be as cool and confident as Keaton herself, or someone like her, as in, older. That wish results in a tale that could be described as “Freaky Friday” meets “Old.” It’s a cute concept, but one that turns out to be a lemon once you start kicking the tires.
The screenplay for “Mack & Rita” ditches character establishment and a clear conflict for fish-out-of-water physical comedy and some vaguely affirmative lessons about learning to be yourself, unapologetically.
Twenty-something Mack (Elizabeth Lail) is an author turned social media writer/influencer. Though she looks young and hip, she’s truly an old soul who dreams of living like her dear grandmother, swanning about in colorful caftans, not caring about what other people think. This desire for the caftan life is a struggle for Mack, as she violently resists the youthful capers of her friends during a Palm Springs bachelorette party for her best friend Carla (Taylour Paige).
Worn out from a bottomless brunch, Mack stumbles into a “past-life regression pop-up” and clambers into a tanning
bed at the behest of Luka (Simon Rex). He guides her through a meditation about who she really wants to be, and out pops Keaton. Mack is suddenly the bold and stylish 70-something she’s always dreamed of becoming.
Posing as an “Aunt Rita” until the problem can be remedied, the older Mack slides back into her life.
But she’s also got a new groove as Rita, flirting with her next door neighbor Jack (Dustin Milligan) and becoming a surprise Instagram sensation. It’s a story ostensibly about how the privilege of age can help one learn to embrace all of their foibles and idiosyncrasies; it’s just that we’re never clear on what those are for Mack.
If growing older is empowering, it’s due to the experience you gain and the lessons along the way; the years spent earning gray hairs and laugh lines. It’s not something you can skip. Mack/Rita eventually figures this out thanks to a sassy wine club of grandmas who point it out, a little too late.
Any and all age-swap shenanigans, baffling scenarios and flaws in the concept could be forgiven if we better understood
Mack, whose issues seem trivial. Rita, well, who even is Rita? She’s supposed to be Older Mack but she’s just Keaton, who does her signature adorably neurotic routine. However, there’s no consistency of character from Lail to Keaton, and it feels like Mack AND Rita, not that they are the same person.
Aselton wisely trots out an all-star parade of comedy heavyweights to distract from the script issues. It’s hard to be mad at a movie in which Patti Harrison juggles three cellphones as Mack’s harried agent, and Nicole Byer leads a beachside breathwork session that somehow ends up lighting Rita’s hair on fire.
A little Keaton cosplay can be therapeutic, but true wisdom comes from time spent, not just an age swap. Thanks to the adventures of Rita, Mack finally learns to wear the caftan if she wants to, though it remains a mystery about what was ever stopping her from wearing one in the first place.
MPAA rating: PG-13 (for some drug use, sexual references and language) Running time: 1:35
How to watch: In theaters