Lawrence Kasdan hasn't made a
film in ten years "“ though his sons Jon and (especially) Jake have carried on
the family legacy in the interim "“ and the dust shows all over his lightweight
return, Darling Companion. Diane Keaton plays needy Beth, who
discovers a dog on the side of the freeway that she takes in and names Freeway, much to the displeasure of workaholic husband Joseph (Kevin Kline). The couple marries off their youngest
daughter at their Rocky Mountain retreat and decides to spend the weekend with
the rest of their dysfunctional family unit (Diane Wiest, Richard Jenkins, and
Mark Duplass).
Of course, Joseph loses sight of Freeway while talking on
the phone, so the group is forced to spend the remainder of their vacation
searching for him, under the guidance of clairvoyant housekeeper (seriously)
Carmen. If the film has one issue
above all else, it's the existence of Carmen, who has visions that the family
follow blindly in the search for Freeway and claims to "be one with the
animals" because she's, uh, a gypsy!
Yeah! She's less a
character than a machine that spits out contrivances; she's either the sort of
amateur screenwriting tool that someone of Kasdan's stature shouldn't have to
rely on or a clumsy attempt at magical realism. Worse still, she gets shoehorned into a romance with Bryan
in a subplot that doesn't seem to serve any purpose.
Keaton, as has been her wont recently, alternates between
hysterical emotional outbursts and looking good in a pantsuit; regular Kasdan
player Kline delivers punchlines well, but he can't elevate how weak the character
is. Wiest is similarly wasted, but
the film's biggest offense is giving Sam Shepard an extended cameo to do
nothing more than pass a kidney stone.
Of all the cast, Jenkins and Duplass are best in their scenes together,
but by the end of the film, the characters don't seem to have actively grown,
evolved, or learned anything other than to be nice to each other. That's great sentiment and all, but
maybe Kasdan should have just adopted another dog instead of making a film.
