Forty-five years ago, Diane Keaton became an influencer before there even was such a word. After Annie Hall came out, women across the country started mimicking Annie/Keaton’s androgynous chic, complete with vests and neckties and slouchy hats.
Fast forward to today. Among young people at least, it’s possible Keaton is more famous for her daffy talk show appearances and unique fashion sense—she still favors the menswear look, although everything is more expensive and tailored now—than she is for being an actress. (Kind of a bummer, actually: Young people of America, watch Reds!) And yes, she has an Instagram page, where she often shows off that fashion—A-line skirts, giant belts, clompy shoes, crisp dress shirts buttoned all the way up to the top. If before she was an unofficial influencer, now she’s an official one.
I don’t know for this sure, but I imagine that Mack & Rita—directed by Katie Aselton and written by Madeline Walter and Paul Welsh—was created with Keaton in mind. In some ways, the film is an homage to Keaton, the style and lifestyle icon, even if the screenplay contains a gentle critique of that very lifestyle.
Here’s the premise: Mack (Elizabeth Lail) was raised by her eccentric, comfortable-in-her-own-skin Grammie Martin (Catherine Carlen), who encouraged her to be bold and follow her bliss. Now 30, Mack has written one moderately successful book of essays about her dearly departed Grammie but hasn’t done much since. She’s surviving as an influencer—wearing Bombas socks on Instagram, for example (points for accuracy)—and she isn’t pleased about it. It’s not just that Mack is embarrassed to be an influencer, she feels out of touch with her entire generation. She doesn’t want to go to loud bars where she has to wait in line to get in, she doesn’t like the skimpy fashion favored by her friends. She’d frankly rather eat an early bird dinner, wear a jumpsuit, and go home and curl up with a good book.
The film’s action kicks off the weekend of her best friend Carla’s bridal shower in Palm Springs. Carla, played by rising star Taylour Paige (Zola), actually does understand Mack, including her weird desire to be “an old gal.” But her two other bridesmaids—Aimee Carrero and Addie Weyrich, consistently getting the film’s biggest laughs—think Mack is a bit of a weirdo and a buzzkill.
As Carla and those two bridesmaids head out to a Bad Bunny show, Mack stops at a roadside “past life regression” tent, manned by faux guru Luka (Simon Rex, hamming it up bigly). She really just wants to lie down in his regression chamber (actually an old tanning bed)—hanging out with people her own age is exhausting! But, because this is one of those body swap movies, she lies in the bed, is encouraged to ponder who she really wants to be—lights flash, the room spins—and she wakes up looking like Diane Keaton. Luka is long gone. She screams.
The idea of someone being horrified to look like Diane Keaton is kind of hilarious—at 76, she’s still a beauty. But okay, fair enough. Mack may want to be an old soul in spirit, but she wants her young hair and boobs back!
She makes her way back to the house where the bridal party is staying and scares the heck out of Carla. That said, it doesn’t take long for Carla to believe that Mack is Mack—they have the kind of connection you can’t fake. It’s decided that until Mack clears up this situation, she’ll say she’s Mack’s Aunt Rita from Scottsdale.
Mack, now Rita, heads home, where she is greeted by her cute neighbor/dog walker, Jack (Dustin Mulligan), who definitely had a crush on Mack but is perfectly happy to chat up Aunt Rita instead. Turns out Jack is a little lonely and nerdy, kind of out-of-step with his own generation, a lot like Mack. He and Aunt Rita start hanging out on the regular. (One of their dates takes place at a California Pizza Kitchen and, for a film that mocks influencers, it’s quite possibly the most shameless—and extended—bit of product placement I’ve ever seen. “I’ll have the garlic cream fettucine with bacon,” says Rita. “I’ll have the Original BBQ Chicken Pizza,” says Jack. “You’re not fooling anyone,” says me.)
Aunt Rita meets the members of the senior ladies’ wine club, led by Carla’s mother (Loretta Devine). These warm and fun-loving gals take Rita under their wing, but they also impart an important life lesson: The kind of possession and personal contentment that Grammie Martin had has to be earned, there’s no shortcut.
There’s a bit where Aunt Rita becomes an Instagram hit, a glamma (that’s glamorous grandma) influencer. This leads to a scene where Rita tries Pilates, of all things—what year is this? 1998?— and another scene where Rita attends an outdoor woman’s festival and lights her hair on fire. Both these scenes rely heavily on physical comedy. Neither are particularly funny.
Mack & Rita is several notches less accomplished than such body swap classics as Big and Freaky Friday (or even the Zac Efron/Matthew Perry charmer, 17 Again). But it definitely has that “yes, this movie isn’t great but I’ll nonetheless watch the shit out of it every time it comes on TV” vibe. It’s a treat to see Keaton’s elaborate get-ups, as ever. And I personally delight in her giddy, drunken toddler charm, even if here it borders on self-parody (if you’re not a fan of the Full Keaton, I might stay away). The truth is, I’m willing to overlook the film’s few flaws—okay, lots of flaws—just to hang out with Aunt Rita.