When one hears the term hybrid nowadays, the first thing that probably comes to mind are automobiles that derive their power from gasoline and some other energy source. On the other hand, they might think of those weird, designer dog combinations people are creating by breeding two distinct species into a brand new one.
Of course, filmmakers have often mixed genres, resulting in things such as the funny horror movie and the sci-fi western. Probably the most common is the dramedy, which, as the name suggests, is part serious and part funny, with the latter presumably present to temper the former and thus make it more palatable to less discerning viewers.
Such would seem to be the case in the dramedy "Georgia Rules." The story of three generations of troubled women in one family and the rocky relationships among all of them, the film has its share of goofy and fluffy moments. At its core, however, it possesses far more serious elements, the kind of which don't often get the lightweight and/or comedy treatment, mainly because of the severity of such matters and the public's general distaste for them. The combination of that subject matter and such comedy ultimately undermines the entire effort.
What, you may wonder, is so off-limits that it can't be used for laughs? After all, and while everyone might not find them funny, things such as death, divorce, handicaps and more have gotten the comedy treatment in the past. But not child molestation and incest, the very items that run beneath and eventually surface through the script by Mark Andrus.
And the fact that they revolve around the character embodied by Lindsay Lohan -- as a troubled teen who claims her stepfather started having sex with her when she was 12 -- doesn't help matters, especially considering that the actress seems to be channeling her own reported partying, bad girl behavior while portraying the same on the screen.
For those who didn't hear during the film's production, Lohan was supposedly so out of control that not only did her co-star Jane Fonda read her the riot act, but the film's producer, James G. Robinson, also famously wrote her something of the same, essentially telling her to clean up her act or else.
It's next to impossible to watch the film without thinking of all of those reports, but you have to admit that Lohan has that spoiled and rebellious but smart teen character act down pat. As the film starts, the younger mom (played by Felicity Huffman) tells Lohan's character that she doesn't know who she is or where she's going. In reality, they're headed for Fonda's character's house where the middle mom hopes that her mother's strict lifestyle will act like a military boot camp and thus scare the teen straight.
Accordingly, Rachel extends her lack of authoritative respect to her grandmother who quickly resorts to the retort "f*ck off." Such language is despite Fonda's character never taking the Lord's name in vain and threatening to wash out -- with literal soap - the mouth of anyone who does (it's a running gag that never does anything for the film beyond reinforcing that contrived stereotype of the practical "grumpy old woman" stereotype, and Fonda never see comfortable trying to make it work).
Thus, as Rachel becomes the fish out of water character in the small town of Hull, Idaho, her mom hopes to better their relationship while having nothing but a stinky one with her own mom. So far so good, at least in terms of premise and the potential of having some fun with adding comedic elements to the overall family tension.
And then the whole molestation and incest subplot drops on the film like an anvil, albeit a cartoon one. I suppose it's possible one could do an ultra black comedy about such matters, but even that "safer" approach would be fraught with pitfalls around every turn.
Certainly not going that direction, but clearly wanting to have his cake and eat it too, director Garry Marshall nevertheless continues with that new plot thrust, but can't resist the urge to add comedy and/or lighthearted moments to it (or least around it) whenever possible.
The result simply doesn't work from any aspect, simply because none of it feels honest or real, but instead comes off as nothing but a Hollywood construct. That also holds true for Rachel's interaction with a hunky Mormon (Garrett Hedlund) and a widower (Dermot Mulroney) who's the town's resident veterinarian and doctor (another failed bit that reeks of any backwoods, country doc comedy).
I realize that as a troubled teen who doesn't know where to turn for love or how to direct her longings, Lohan's character will behave erratically. As portrayed here, however, she's all over the board, driven simply by the demands of what the script dictates rather than anything coming off as believable.
Although Marshall's consistently uneven tone and all-too-obvious direction doesn't help the film, I don't know that any other director could have pulled off the high wire act of trying to surround the topic of incest and molestation with lighthearted comedy.
As a straight drama this story could have worked, which also holds true if it had been bittersweet look at mother/daughter relationships sans the more troubling story elements. As it stands, this hybrid has a volatile and potentially explosive ingredient, but its treatment results in nothing but a cinematic mutt. "Georgia Rules" rates as a 3 out of 10.
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