In a laid-back and cocky introduction to this romantic comedy, Harry Sanborn (Jack Nicholson), a 63-year-old New York City music executive states: "Ahhhh . . .The sweet, uncomplicated satisfaction of the younger woman. That fleeting age when everything just falls into place. It's a magic time and it can render any man, anywhere — absolutely helpless. Some say I'm an expert on the younger woman. Guess that's because I've been dating them for over 40 years."
His latest relationship is with Marin (Amanda Peet), whom he met at Sotheby's where she works. They intend to spend a quiet weekend at her family's Hamptons beachfront home. Unfortunately, her mother, Erica (Diane Keaton), a successful divorced playwright, is also there along with Aunt Zoe (Frances McDormand), a feminist studies college professor. After getting off to a bad start, the four of them decide to spend the weekend together. At a meal where they are discussing sexual politics and Harry's dating habits, Zoe says: "Here's the rub for women. Look at what we have here with you and Erica. Harry, you've been around the block a few times, right? You're what? Around 60. Never been married, which, we all know, if you were a woman, would be a curse, you'd be an old maid, a spinster. Okay, instead of pitying you, they wrote articles about you, celebrate you never marrying. It makes you illusive and ungettable. You're a real catch."
A while later, Harry and Marin head off to the bedroom to have sex, but he is felled by a heart attack and rushed to the hospital. When Julian Mercer (Keanu Reeves), the handsome thirtysomething doctor who treats him, meets Erica, he is very attracted to her and shares his enthusiasm for all her plays that he has enjoyed over the years. He suggests that Harry stay in the Hamptons during his recuperation. Suddenly the playwright who has nothing but scorn for Harry's hedonistic ways finds herself his caretaker. And despite her criticism of his lifestyle, the aging playboy, who has made it a rule never to show an interest in women over 30, finds himself pleasantly attracted to Erica.
Writer and director Nancy Meyers (What Women Want, The Parent Trap) is on familiar turf here in her exploration of the agitated state these characters get into when they fall in love and are unable to handle the mysterious connections that draw them together. Of course, Harry's state of mind grows out of his heart attack and his sudden confrontation with vulnerability and mortality — he's now able to cry on the spot! Erica's sexual arousal has a sprightly effect on her personality, and she becomes even more appealing to the young doctor. who takes her out for dinner. Although the finale is a predictable piece of romantic mythology, Nicholson and Keaton seem to be enjoying themselves as they try to prove once again that even elder members of the baby boom generation can become unglued by the palpitations and vexations of romantic love.
