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, 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. Rendered literal, 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.
Watching Keaton read the phone book would be entertaining. Unfortunately, the phone book would have made more sense than the screenplay for “Mack & Rita,” which 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 apparently 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).
