Jon Kasdan (son of filmmaker Lawrence Kasdan) makes a most auspicious directorial debut with "In the Land of Women," an utterly charming and winning indie comedy/drama marked by interesting characters, complex relationships and delightful performances by a first-rate cast.

When his fashion-model/actress girlfriend dumps him without warning, a "soft-erotica" writer by the name of Carter Webb leaves his home in L.A. to spend time with his eccentric grandmother in suburban Michigan. A 26-year old who hasn`t been able to grab a hold of anything meaningful in his life thus far, Carter finds his world becoming even more complicated when he makes the acquaintance of a mother and daughter who live across the street from where he`s staying.

The beauty of Kasdan's screenplay is that we never know where the story is going to take us at any given moment. Moreover, the characters interact with one another in ways that are both believable and surprising, and no one is made out to be either a hero or a villain, a sinner or a saint. Carter is coping with the pain of a failed romantic relationship, while the two women contend with marital difficulties, suburban angst, adolescent rebellion and a life-threatening illness. Yet, for all the potential sturm und drang of the material, "In the Land of Women" maintains a light-hearted, lyrical tone throughout, thanks to witty dialogue and a full-hearted appreciation for the subtle little ironies and eccentricities of life.

The performances could not be improved upon. Adam Brody makes Carter into a sympathetically vulnerable figure who, at the same time, can display a surprising amount of strength and intestinal fortitude when the situation calls for it. Makenzie Vega is sweet and charming as the literal girl-next-door who is quick to criticize her mother even though she doesn't know the woman quite as well as she thinks she does. But it is Meg Ryan as Sarah Hardwicke, the full-time housewife and mother, who truly excels in her role, turning a potentially two-dimensional character into a multi-faceted woman of surprising depth and emotion. With admirable restraint and understatement, Ryan conveys all the unspoken thoughts and feelings of a woman who is aware of the compromises she has made in life but who is far more wise and complex about the ways of the world than either her daughter or her philandering husband are willing to give her credit for. Finally, Olympia Dukakis seems to be having the time of her life playing an attention-seeking, doddering old woman who may not be quite as out of it as she wants others to believe she is.

As director, Kasdan takes full advantage of the bucolic Michigan setting (though it is remarkably lush and green for October), as Carter and Sarah take long, leisurely strolls around the neighborhood, getting to know one another and establishing a lasting relationship.

Like them, the movie is not afraid to take its time laying out its storyline and revealing the hearts of its characters. The result is an offbeat and deeply satisfying film that bodes well for the future career of its neophyte director.

This is such a human film...It illustrates the truth that we don't love people because they're perfect because if we did, we'd have no one to love...Every character is flawed and yet each one has a tremendous streak of courage and even some wisdom.
There are REAL teenagers in this film, not the usual sex crazed idiots that are so often featured in today's cinema...
Seldom does one hear such truthful dialog between people who are looking for answers and finding their way....It reaffirms reasons why we should believe in humanity...

I remember Kristen Stewart in PANIC ROOM when she was a good looking little boy, or so I thought, but baby look at her now! If she is going to be tne one playing Bella in the movie of TWILIGHT, then it is bound to be a winner. Here she plays the sullen, rebellious, teenage daughter of Meg Ryan in a midwestern suburb that's been manicured to within an inch of its life. Her boyfriend is the chief jock in the high school and she hangs out with a trendy, Vogue-reading pack of gossip girls. And yet for some reason she's not happy--well, if she was, there wouldn't be a movie. To Lucy, Carter Webb the visitor from far off Los Angeles, is her entree into a more intriguing world of exile and possibility. He's creative--a writer--and he still acts like he's in high school, which is reassuring.

He has a comically sad relationship to his aging grandmother (Olympia Dukakis, flaming the screen with shreds of ham), which is just as winsome as Lucy's own relationship with her mother, the aforementioned Meg Ryan, going out of her way to act as if she really had cancer.

The two houses across the street from each other form a dichotomy which the younger characters resent, always spilling out of domestic life and meeting in the middle of the street--I kept waiting for one of them to get run over by Kristen Stewart's car-crazy pack of jock friends.

Adam Brody just wasn't right for this movie, and if it fails, it's because of two things, he's the same as Seth Cohen only without any snappy dialogue, and b, the whole script is written in a way that makes you think the producers are purposely avoiding letting Carter have sex with either mother or daughter.

He's supposed to write soft core porn for HBO or whatever, but as the film makes it clear, he is as ignorant about sex as he is about everything else. I guess he's okay, though how convenient that he gets to meet Ms. Right in the last sixty seconds of the movie. Whoops, that's a spoiler right there but now I've got you curious and otherwise there's not much to look forward to once Olympia Dukakis totters in and destroys the picture.

You KNOW this is a comedy from the title -- and it delivers big time. The FINE seller gave me great service, too, and rates AAA+++++.

This movie has no pretentions towards Oscar or any other awards. However, the story is entertaining; the directorial timing is impecable; the plot introduces multiple topics which are largely common, but doesn't dwell on any subject beyond endurance; beautifully filmed; no digression into sexual situations; no sexual overtones of a younger man interested in either an older woman or a teenager; absolutely accurate gestures by the teenage girl; great presence by Adam Brody; etc.

The film is watchable over and over again as pure entertainment. Don't look for what you don't find. Life is at least complicated in the multiple vignettes we experience - some our own and others viewed from afar.