Mack & Rita
Diane Keaton’s age-positive comedy is an age-old routine.
Look out, old Mack is back: Diane Keaton ages gracefully.
Body swap comedies have been around longer than you might think. The premise dates all the way back to the 1917 silent drama Eye of Envy, which saw a Sleepy Hollow blacksmith switch bodies with the help of a wishing tree. In 1940, Hal Roach’s Turnabout was the first to utilise the device for comedy, when a husband and wife trade bodies and traditional gender roles. The plot mechanism has been a physical comedy playground for actors ever since. Barbara Harris and Jodie Foster memorably swapped places in Disney’s zany classic Freaky Friday. Tom Hanks got Big, Bruce Willis met The Kid, Jennifer Garner was 13 Going on 30, Matthew Perry became 17 Again, and now 70 is the new 30 in Mack & Rita.
Mackenzie ‘Mack’ Martin (Elizabeth Lail) lives a homebody life with her dog Cheese. Raised by her Grammie Martin, Mack is an ‘old gal’ at heart, preferring naps over nightclubs. When she’s talked into joining a wild bachelorette weekend in Palm Springs, Mack can’t be bothered to join in the fun. Instead, she ventures into a vacant lot to ‘regress and be blessed’ in Luka’s (Simon Rex’s) past-life regression tent. His magical tanning bed trots out the old trope: be careful what you wish for. With her 70-year-old self set free (in the form of Diane Keaton), ‘Aunt Rita’ becomes a social media sensation as the glammy grammy the Tik Tok generation didn’t know they needed. Soon she’s macking on a much younger man (Schitt’s Creek alum Dustin Milligan) and saying cheers to the ladies who lunch (Loretta Devine, Wendie Malick, Lois Smith, and Amy Hill).
On the surface, Mack & Rita seems to celebrate ageing and being true to yourself, but the metaphor is muddled by all the efforts characters make to keep up appearances. Even as Rita, Mack essentially plays another role, monetizing her inner old lady as a media brand. Keaton does her best to keep the floor show going, flailing and groaning to distraction. The most effective moments come when Keaton simply stops to breathe (which doesn’t happen often). 2019’s overlooked Poms, about a retirement community cheer squad, may seem equally ludicrous, but turns out to be the far superior Keaton vehicle. Grounded and vulnerable, Poms provided Keaton depth, yet allowed for her natural quirks and charisma. Mack & Rita works hard to make us care for Mack but forgets we’re just there for Rita. Too bad she’s not a Margo, as in Margo/Rita.
CHAD KENNERK
Cast: Diane Keaton, Taylour Paige, Elizabeth Lail, Loretta Devine, Amy Hill, Lois Smith, Wendie Malick, Simon Rex, Martin Short, Dustin Milligan, Sara Amini, Molly Duplass.
Dir Katie Aselton, Pro Alex Saks, Diane Keaton, Stephanie Heaton-Harris, Jina Panebianco and Dori Rath, Screenplay Paul Welsh and Madeline Walter, Ph Sean McElwee, Pro Des Tracy Dishman, Ed Michael A. Webber, Music Leo Birenberg, Costumes Allyson B. Fanger, Sound David Barber.
Page Fifty-Four Pictures/Rhea Films/Hercules Film Fund/CaliWood Pictures-Gravitas Premiere.
95 mins. USA/Luxembourg. 2022. US Rel: 12 August 2022. Cert. PG-13.
Thank you to Metropolitan Theatres
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