original screenplay. If you are tired of copycat movies you should watch this one. Thumbs up!

enough to have dealt with a teenage daughter. I went with a college student, though, and she liked it. I think some men would like it, but to be safe I'd consider it a chick flick.

billed as a Comedy/Drama and that it is. The comedy was better than most and the drama built up as the characters' true selves and their strengths and weaknesses evolved. This is by far the best of its genre to come in a long time. Don't miss it!

movie to open dialog with your Mom or your resident teenager. Take the R rating seriously - it's a mature chick flick - one of the best.Garry Marshall did a good job at handling a heavy subject. There are a couple of laughs along the way for comedy relief, but this is a movie that will stay with you. Go see it.

recommend this film. I actually might go see it again and I never see a movie twice in the theater!

Fonda is especially wonderful. Her strength as an actress is something rare these days. She truly gels the film into worthwhile cinema. I hope she many more worthwhile roles ahead of her.

of the movie trying to figure it all out, but not in a frustrating way. Overall I think this movie was far better than expected and totally enjoyable.

happens to them. He just makes his films come alive and Georgia Rule is no exception to Marshall's rule. The film is a little more gritty and dark, perhaps a little more adult than what Marshall usually delves into but that being said it still has it's charm, it still has a dark, twisted humor to it and it still has Hector Elizondo who Marshall likes to cameo or feature in his films. The cast is brought together very well and everyone works well together in it and you love being a part of the daily routine of the small town. There is enough drama, emotion, comedy, and overall scenes of pure joy to make this a good movie.I'll start with Jane Fonda. As famous as she is this is only the second movie I've ever seen her in...the first was Monster-In-Law and I became an instant fan of hers. Her comic timing, her character and her performance was downright brilliant. In this turn she is Georgia, a firm and dedicated woman who lives on her own and but is well known to the townspeople. She has a set way to do things and no one is going to tell her otherwise. Georgia is terrific...the perfect match for Fonda and does a great job. Fonda is such a talented actress and Hollywood elite and she lights up the screen and yet still comes across as this down home, lovable character. My only complaint is that she wasn't used more in the film than she was. Felicity Huffman, I became a big fan of after watching the brilliant film Transamerica where she played a man wanting to go through the transformation into a woman...her performance was amazing. In Georgia Rule she plays the daughter of Jane Fonda's Georgia, Lilly. Now Lilly hasn't always appreciated her mother's firm nature and has had a rough go of it battling alcoholism, two marriages and her wild and uncontrollable daughter. Huffman isn't the forefront of the story but she adds a lot of emotion to her role. Her battle with alcoholism and her daughter and her estranged second husband give way to some very powerful moments. She is a great actress. And now we tread lightly into the world of the recently arrested Miss Lindsay Lohan. We all heard she was nearly fired from this film for her wild ways and I mean her role in this film must strike so close to home it hurts. As Rachel, Lohan plays a confused and messed up post high school graduate who likes her recreational drugs, drinking and random sexual encounters. She doesn't want to listen to so called 'authority figures' and thinks her life is just fine but she's hiding a devastating secret. Lohan I thought overall was good...she didn't match the performances of her senior performers but to go up against Jane Fonda is pretty impressive. She has some great lines and she definitely pulls off the firecracker role very well. Also on the plus side she looks relatively healthy considering her real life health issues as of late. Dermot Mulroney is also very good and actually shows some life to his usually rather dull performances as local Doctor/Veterinarian Simon. Simon becomes almost like a father figure to Rachel and is the one to really bring her back around to coming to terms with herself and her issues. Mulroney is a good addition to the cast. Cary Elwes rounds out the cast as Rachel's stepfather and Garrett Hedlund as her love interest. Elwes is appropriately normal looking but still becomes the villain in a different way and you want to see him get his just end. Hedlund is okay as the naive and love struck Harlan. He comes across as a bit of a dolt which is okay but ultimately you don't want the main romantic interest to be downright stupid. Naive is one thing.Despite it's serious content the film is about sexual abuse and coming-of-age in a different sort of way...something director Garry Marshall does with style always the film has some genuinely funny moments. I wouldn't hesitate to see this film again because there was something charming about it and ultimately it did have it's happy ending although my one big complaint is that Cary Elwes' character never truly gets what's coming to him. I wanted to see Lohan take her aggressions out on him. However the scene with Jane Fonda's Georgia hitting him with the bat is priceless. This film is a classic I think and will go far despite critics and dollar signs. See it!! You'll enjoy it!! 8.5/10

The very real emotion she displayed will doubtless have some guessing if there is some of her own real life victimization in here. I certainly hope not, as the character's history is deeply ugly and all too familiar to me. I really felt I knew her here, and felt her experiences, her pain and helplessness. Some of the dialog I've said myself in real life.The next treat was Ms. Huffman, albeit a much less sympathetic character. But her performance was stunningly real.The rest of the cast did their jobs well enough, but the clear centerpiece here is Lohan as the victim fighting a world that has wronged her greatly. I would not object to her being nominated for an academy award for this... even winning. I was that moved.The other usual trappings of the film business were all well done. It did not look like Idaho to me, more like some parts of Southern California, but all of that takes a back seat to the story here. It is a shame that more people will not go see this movie because they have no idea what it is really about.Thanks Mr. Marshall, for a great film on a despicable subject.