Mack & Rita (2022) User Reviews (36)

It's not bad. It is, however, sadly unremarkable.

[I_Ailurophile · 5/10 · 23 December 2022]

Fifteen minutes in: "Oh. So it's 'Big' or '13 going on 30' meets 'Freak Friday.' Got it."

The cast is having a good time. I love the costume design, and the hair and makeup work. The production design and art direction are pretty swell. There are themes here about being true to oneself, and the shallowness of social media and "influencers"; far less well articulated are any Big Ideas about treating the elderly well, and not talking down to them, or some such that the movie barely touches upon. The screenplay can claim some minor cleverness and mild, lighthearted humor. It's well made from a technical standpoint, including visual effects, editing, and cinematography, even if such elements are sometimes employed to ends that are just overdone.

I'd like to have more to say about 'Mack & Rita,' and specifically, something more substantive. This, however, is not a movie of substance - at least, none that we haven't seen before, and none that we can't predict nearly from the very start. There are also times when the feature works extra hard to avoid substance and just be as bombastic as it can, except the results of such instances are mostly not fun or funny, just overcooked or altogether obnoxious. (Like, really obnoxious; the first point of comparison to come to mind was John Leguizamo's 1997 misstep 'The pest,' except without the deliberate offensiveness.) Alternatively, the last scene, that tries to wrap up the story in a nutshell of whatever substance was previously lacking, is simply too drawn out.

This isn't to say that it's bad, or dull. It's not! It's really not! I do like this; it's passably entertaining, and everyone put in a lot of hard work on it. Only - it's just not anything special, and it doesn't have any especial spark to make it pop. No doubt many other viewers will get much more out of 'Mack & Rita'; I'm glad for them, and they should. For the average viewer, however, this is something very light and fluffy to watch on a very lazy day, if at all. Maybe that's all it needs to be, but I still rather wish it were something more remarkable.

Could have been titled "30 Going on 70"

[bds1187 · 6/10 · 20 August 2022]

Light hearted escapism; not nearly worthy of some of the overwhelmingly negative reviews here. But don't go thinking you're going to see an Oscar winner either.

Elizabeth Laiil and Dianne Keaton are charming. However, the story is one we all know. But if you're looking for a few hours to forget the world, you'll enjoy it just fine...

Lite Hearted Comedy

[Intermissionman_ · 6/10 · 14 August 2022]

A successful but somewhat confused 30 Year Old Writer MACK (Elizabeth Lail) is in a Rut. Got Writers Block and the Dear Colorful Grandmother that raised her is Gone. A Bit of a Loner anyway she needs boost of confidence for Book Number 2. Same Week Her Best Friend is Having Bachelorette Fling in Palm Springs. Here though Loyal to her friends she still feels left out and decides to See a Zen Regression Guru LUCA (Simon Rex) who magically transforms Her into RITA (Diane Keaton) the 70 Year Old she thinks is trapped in her 30 year old body ? A Body Switch like in BIG. The script is pretty crazy from here especially Social Media wise. Both the Young and Old fall for next door neighbor Dog Watcher JACK (Dustin Milligan) one of few male characters in Movie. Mack & Rita each have 3 support friends Mack from Birth but Rita finds her 3 at a Wine Club Lunch hosted by CARLA's Mom. CARLA (Taylour Paige) is the one getting married and she is convinced MACK has become RITA .

So in Summary a Bunch of Actresses of various AGE and A Handsome Dude Drink Wine and Eat Jumbo Shrimp leading to a Wedding and SWEET Ending ! Worked for me especially impressed with MACK (Lail) , nice job on dialogue. Ensemble Cast. Costume Department Thumbs Up. Flashy Outfits !

Diane Keaton Producer and was likely on Set for Ending Scenes. Maybe doing a little Coaching ?

The Director (Katie Aselton) is also an Actress.

Dead...just plain dead...

[dantharpe · 1/10 · 31 August 2022]

Our ladies group got together for lunch and then saw this movie. It did not take long to realize the indigestion we were getting wasn't from lunch, but it was this lifeless and dead movie.

Diane Keaton is usually a good actress who brings a lot of character and laughs to any movie... but she has lost everything with this movie!

The "so-called" funny remarks fell silent with everyone in the theater, and the timing was horrible.

We wasted our time, we wasted our good hard-earned money, and along with the over-priced concessions, it was a costly dead afternoon!

A few days after we saw it, we noticed it had been removed from the listing of movies at the theater... well, the writing was on the wall for this one! Good bye and good riddance!

Who was this movie for?

[hmbrisbo · 1/10 · 24 August 2022]

I was excited for the premise of this movie. My expectations were the kind of humor you find in Grace and Franky, mixed with 13 going on 30.

I'm not sure who the target demographic was for this. The jokes exaggerated stereotypes of younger people that only an older person would find funny. However, the directing and camera work was too shaky for older people. Some of those scenes should have come with a motion trigger warning.

The premise of the movie was not really clear until you got to the very end and she talks about how she was never comfortable being herself. She said she felt like she had to hide who she was yet it never seemed like she was trying to fit in in the first place. She made it very clear she didn't enjoy doing what the other girls did. I also didn't realize her grandma was dead until the very last scene.

The last thing was how unrealistic it is to say this Mack is unique in wanting to live life like an old lady. So many millennials love reading, knitting, painting, journalling, etc. There was nothing different about Mack than any other millennial. She just needed to find friends who enjoyed doing the same things she does.

I could continue, but I'm not going to waste anymore time on this terrible movie.

So boring and trite

[lonnierathie · 3/10 · 17 August 2022]

Why on earth was this movie even made? Stupid jokes, lame story that's been done a hundred times before, and even lamer cast.

The Diane Keaton character's voice was so annoyingly high pitched that it was hard to even hear what was being said. Waste of time.

The grass is greener over there

[cekadah · 7/10 · 22 October 2022]

But the grass is never greener!

This is a story with a simple philosophical tale about a young woman who - since childhood - wanted to be old. Because she thought older people 'had it all together'. Then unexpectedly she finds herself an elderly woman. Only to discover what she always wanted was not as she imagined. That grass isn't as green as she expected. Then her task, her desire, is to be her young self again!

This movie is not a great cinema achievement but it is an entertaining hour and a half of watching. Diane Keaton is her natural entertaining self and is charming as Aunt Rita!

A delightful and entertaining flick!!

Don't waste your time!

[savvysussman · 1/10 · 20 August 2022]

This is the only movie, in my entire 59 years, that I've EVER walked out on!!!

Possibly the WORST movie ever made.

I love Diane Keaton and it hurt my heart that she was part of such a trite and poorly written film.

Horrible from start to finish!

Awesome.....

[skonto-70240 · 6/10 · 9 September 2022]

Script idea, cast and lessons for us all, especially the self absorbed, wannabe, new media influencers that every other millennial seems to aspire to being

Sadly we're given no time to explore or find out more about the characters; I couldn't relate to any of them at any level, find any empathy with the bride-to-be (or any of the cast), believe the lifetime friendship she shared with Mack, or where the spying scene on Jack through his apartment window even materialises from? And don't get me started on the literary agent.... or why Jack's character doesn't turn out to be gay (instead of a GIlF hunter)

There were so many missed editing opportunities to make this an awesome movie; To paraphrase Eric Morecambe's sketch, when he's questioned about playing the piano badly, this movie has all of the scenes & all of the dialogue, just not necessarily in the right order!

First rule of making us love & empathise with the characters is show don't tell... this script was so force fed I was left feeling stuffed & unsatisfied afterwards - was this a homage to My name Is Doris?

The story idea is so good I hope some one with vision and a better storytelling ability remakes this (soon!)

Sorry to be so negative - I appreciate the work everyone has put in to making this movie, especially the fantastic Simon Rex as the 'snake oil' selling new age hippy & the delightful Ms Keaton (who's investment actually helped produce this movie)

I've watched it twice already, because I really want to love it for all of the veiled messages it is trying to teach, the 'mirror' it holds up to us all, as well as the fun romp we go on to get Mack back to her old (younger) self; but it's just not happening for me.

Comedy blind

[piker-5 · 3/10 · 14 August 2022]

I havent seen this many perfectly good jokes fail to land since VIBES. Why? Bad chemistry, poor timing? Cast is fine, script is good, but by fifteen minutes in i thought so many movies are made but not released - WHY NOT THIS? Ah well, it looked nice.

Entertaining after the first 10 mins and good message!

[Stephythinks · 8/10 · 18 August 2022]

I don't understand the terrible reviews, I mean yea it's a little silly but it's a cute comedy. The first 10 mins were a little annoying but then it got good and by the end it had a great message! Cute chick flick.

Reminisce of "Big"

[wisdomagreementsreading · 7/10 · 4 February 2023]

This cute rom com reminded me of "Big" Tom Hanks. Diane Keaton slays, to use the movie term, in everything she does. I loved seeing Dustin Mulligan from "Schitt's Creek" And hearing Martin Short as "Cheese" the dog. 😂 I love the moral of the story - Be yourself, the grass isn't always greener aka don't compare, it really showcased influencers on social media, and to always be there for your friends, friends, instead of followers! A few times I found myself multitasking, because it didn't completely hold my interest, but I heard the lines. The only scene I didn't really like was when she was high on mushrooms. It's like the new marijuana.

good popcorn

[itiswhatitisinga · 2/10 · 15 August 2022]

Save yourself. Stay home. Watch the grass grow. Go see a different movie. Try a new restaurant. But DO NOT SEE THIS MOVIE. I warned you...go see where the crawdads sing.

No Nudity, What a Relief!!!

[live-and-let-live · 3/10 · 21 August 2022]

Another Diane Keaton movie that is so predictable and cliche'. She is playing the same Diane Keaton again, as we have seen in so many movies over the past 40 years. The clothes change slightly, but the gestures, expressions, laugh, and just about everything else is just so unremarkably the same. Bless her heart.

Could've been titled 30 going on 70. Same premise as 13 Going on 30, BIG, Freaky Friday...

Disaster

[ivantheeditor · 1/10 · 3 November 2022]

I don't normally write one star reviews and I'm a huge fan of Diane Keaton, so it hurts me to say this but this movie was a complete disaster! First of all, the story moved so slow that I was practically left with no other choice but to turn it off halfway through the movie. Second, the movie just felt so lost and with no direction. The jokes felt very forced and it didn't seem as if what was happening was going anywhere. I waited until Diane was on screen, hoping it would help pick up the pace a bit, but even her amazing energy could not save this. It could've been so much funnier but instead, every joke just fell flat. In the end, I decided it was not worth any more of my time so I stopped it.

Disappointing

[alleyrollins · 1/10 · 4 November 2022]

Honestly I'm all about a cheesy movie sometimes. It's nice to laugh about silly storylines and not so great acting.

But this was bad, from the first 10 mins I was asking myself how this movie even made it out into the world. Did no one screen this while making it. The acting was terrible and the script made it even worse.

I was expecting a silly chick flick and I was even expecting the acting to be not great. But this was so much worse than my expectations that it was hard to watch.

I think this movie could have been good. The storyline has so much potential and a lot of the cast I've seen in many other things and enjoy them. So it sucks that it was so disappointing.

In the early 1900's, Diane Keaton won a "best actress" . . .

[pixrox1 · 6/10 · 24 August 2022]

. . . Oscar as the title character of ANNIE HALL. Since then, her co-star\director has married his daughter in order to father his own grandchildren. MACK & RITA will shock more people than those flabbergasted by the aforementioned fact by implying that Keaton is still alive and kicking. Viewers doubtless expect HER dad Buster to make a cameo appearance here. However, the comedy of this fading picture is not on Buster's grand scale. It is far more diminutive, meriting minor chuckles. Maybe jumbo shrimp burps will fail to elicit even those.

Abysmal, pitiful role-reversal chick flick - destroyed by Diana Keaton (despite bright spark Taylor Paige)

[danieljfarthing · 2/10 · 14 November 2022]

In abysmal 'role reversal' chick-flick "Mack & Rita" Elizabeth Lail (meh) is an 'old before her time' 30 year old yearning for the honest relaxation of old age... then boom, via Simon Rex's 'regression' sunbed (the same vessel that worked much better in "Meet Cute" btw) she transforms into Diane Keaton (embarrasingly awful) and starts living her 'true' life with oldies like Loretta Devine & Wendie Malick, while dating (ridiculously) Dustin Milligan (dreadful) - all under the nose of bff Taylor Paige (the one bright spark in this dull turd). Quite who director / co-writer Katie Aselton was aiming this garbage at is unclear, but what is clear is she missed them. Absolutely pitiful. Flush.

Teen Movie?

[tenaj-40409 · 6/10 · 17 August 2022]

Cute, but not nearly meaty enough. Go all in, one way or another, make it much more interesting. Character development would help. The theme or story line is perhaps way too worn out. ( IMDB has a spoiler in their description of the film.) I lived in Palm Springs so I did want to see it for that reason, but there's very little footage of the area.

Granny Hall?

[ozjosh · 2/10 · 4 September 2022]

Ever the optimist, I was prepared to believe Mack & Rita - a new twist on the Freaky Friday concept of stepping into the body of someone from another generation - had real comedy potential. Plus, maybe it would have something to say about ageing, or attitudes to older people. Granted, Diane Keaton's recent movies have been mediocre at best. But she's Diane Keaton and she's adorable. So how bad could it be? Well, pretty bad. It turns out Mack & Rita doesn't have much to say about anything at all. And the Freaky-Friday-style switcheroo concept is really just a lazy way of having Diane Keaton play Diane Keaton for 90 minutes. She gets to dress stylishly, be mildly kooky, and sip glasses of iced wine. It really could have been an extended appearance on Ellen for all the trouble they went to constructing a plot and writing a script. Sadly, with only "adorable" to fall back on, Diane playing young-playing-old - Granny Hall, if you like - rapidly becomes annoying. Then just plain tedious. Then more than somewhat depressing. Nobody should bother over-analysing the threadbare plot, but I was mildly intrigued with the almost-romance that the older Rita has with the younger Mack's young-and-sorta-hunky neighbour, Jack. There's a passionate kiss, which is then never again mentioned. And at the end (spoiler alert) Mack and Jack are an item - with Mack evidently not at all perturbed by Jack's gerontophile tendencies. I guess Keaton deserves some kind of credit for being game for anything. And for soldiering on comedically into her late 70s. But she sure deserves better than this dreck.

What is with the poor reviews!?

[danieljillstatz · 10/10 · 24 January 2023]

I am a man and me and my wife just finished watching this movie for the first time. I would watch it again tomorrow night. Like all of Diane Keaton's movie. It was awesome and hilarious and made you really think. I am shocked at the low ratings that this movie got. I rely so much on international movie database but now I realize I have to go with my heart and determine for myself if I wanna spend time on watching a movie or not. We were going to watch this movie over a period of two evenings after we rented it. But we could not stop and had to watch it all. I would highly recommend this movie to anyone.

Cute but Not Funny

[starlightkist · 7/10 · 4 September 2022]

Cute chick flick rom com film. Misses the mark for funny. It was a good way to waste the afternoon and could've been worse. Just expected funnier. Has a good message about being true to who you are and not being what you THINK others think you should be. Would recommend to anyone but especially the young ones in our society who are bombarded by social media. Even though the film isn't anti-social media it does play it's role in the film. Also unrealistic standards...the girls are in their early thirties and have fabulous homes and apartments and can jet set around to spend money on alcohol and clothes. Also as a Pilates person, kinda weirded out by the Pilates instructors (funniest scene).

Insufferable, incoherent mess

[hanngarn · 2/10 · 24 January 2023]

I hated this movie so much. It was unbearably boring and terrifically unfunny. I'm embarrassed for everyone involved in it but especially Diane Keaton, who stutters and screams and flails the entire movie. Every other scene is a cringey boring montage with a forgettable pop song over it. None of it made any sense and there was absolutely no logic involved. I have to make this review longer so I'll just say that the only reason I gave it 2 stars instead of 1 is because I kinda liked some of Diane's outfits, particularly the black one when she sets herself on fire (in a horrifically CGI-ed way). That's it, that's all I liked.

Poor eardrums

[Before2020 · 1/10 · 4 January 2023]

How irritating can a cast for a movie be? They put one or two good actors in movies and the rest are garbage. This movie is painful to the ears, within 15 minutes or less. If a man is ever subjected to this I feel sorry for his ears. I can't believe good actors are participating in trash like this. How desperate are they for money? If I was an actor in today's garbage Hollywood, I'd go to my mansion, enjoy my millions and quit the industry. This movie is like a cheap TV teen show but without teens, just a bunch of middle aged and elderly women squealing and acting like teens. The story is dumb and the women in this movie are beyond irritating.

So disappointing and cringeworthy

[mysay-97-581086 · 3/10 · 3 January 2023]

I saw the original preview and thought it might be kind of cutie. It had like an essence of a reverse "Big" plot. I usually really like Diane Keaton but I don't know why she just wasn't even funny. I actually just fast forwarded through most of the movie. I'm not dissing it because I love most of these actresses. I just was not finding anything amusing about the story. And okay where in the heck did she get all those clothes?

I'm sorry the plot of the hot looking neighbor and Rita? Stupid stupid stupid.

Maybe if you're drunk or high could you sit through this. It's just a knock off of a Tom Hanks movie.