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A lot of perfectly good film show their cards early, establish a unique premise and let the audience explore a topic at a leisurely pace, without much in terms of surprise. this film is not one of those films.

This is one of the best movies I’ve seen in a very long time. You have to go and see this on the big screen.

Great story, amazing characters, superb action, enthralling cinematography. Yes, this is something I am glad I spent money on.

It was a decent romantic-comedy with a good cast. But is an old people romance theme and if you like this director's films, then you would enjoy it as well. A simple tale, and some of the contents looks unreal because of intense story development. An elderly man who is in the real estate business tries to sell his house after his wife's death. Now lives in a small apartment surrounded by the annoying neighbours, but one day his drug addict son brings his daughter to leave with him since he's going to prison. Without an alternate he accepts it and in the meantime, the film narrates their bond as well as his romance with a next door woman.This film was rated so badly, but I quite enjoyed it. I know it is not an awesome film, yet I felt it a bit touching and at a time funny. Michael Douglas was very good and so the Diane Keaton with the supporting actors' fine contributions. It was at its best, there was nothing to improve, because if it does the fun part would vanish. So it is as what it is, only we have to jump in and have some good time knowing the film's limit. Maybe the family audience finds it quite comfortable. Looking at the theme and the narration that's how it should be. So a big yes for them, but it has some sexual references and I'm just reminding that if you want to watch it with your children.6.5/10

You can't watch this film and not think of one of the two films I referred to- 2003's "Something's Gotta Give" and of course the Oscar- winning 1997 "As Good As It Gets". Overall, I'll give "And So It Goes" a modest recommendation if you liked those two films, but this movie has got it's problems. One of those problems I think honestly is the length- at only 90 minutes (your standard running time to maximize the movie multiplexes' number of showtimes), you just don't have the time to fully develop the story and characters; unlike "As Good As It Gets" for instance- a 2 & 1/2 hour movie. Oscar winners Diane Keaton & Michael Douglas I think work well together, and have on-screen chemistry. They just needed a more fully-developed screenplay. And Rob Reiner (who also has a supporting role in the film)- wow; this guy used to be one of the top Hollywood filmmakers of the '80s and early '90s- with films like "Princess Bride", "Stand By Me", "When Harry Met Sally", "Misery", "A Few Good Men", etc... He had a modest comeback with the 2000's film "Bucket List", but other than that, the guy can't seem to catch a break about the past 20 years- ever since that infamous bomb "North" I'd say?? Well, anyhoo, if you're looking for something to watch, and the aforementioned films are not readily available (or you've seen them enough already), you may wanna give this a try- And so it goes...

And So It Goes is a gentle comedy about the fragility of being human. Rob Reiner, its director, suggests that in the eternal presence of youth, it is possible to continue to grow young and transform one's life. Although its main characters, Leah, a widow who sings torch songs in supper clubs but can't get through one without crying (Diane Keaton) and Oren, a widower and veteran Realtor who is just counting the days until retirement (Michael Douglas), are at odds with each other. In the course of events we find opposites attract and are vital to one another's growth. Both are still actively grieving their deceased spouses in very different ways. Oren slips away to the graveyard to talk to his wife, while showing the world a nasty, hardened face. His dream of retirement hinges upon the final sale of the $8.6 million mansion where he lived with her once upon a time. Should the sale go through, he intends to head for the serenity of a solitary life tucked away in Vermont. In the mean time, he must weather the storm of living among others in the cramped quarters of a multiple family dwelling he owns and sardonically nicknames "Shangri-La." Although both Leah and Oren are in fragile shape, they unify when Oren's ten year-old grand daughter is dumped on his doorstep by his son, a man estranged from his father for double digits who is going away to prison. Oren attempts to get rid of the child, but Leah steps in, revealing her material instincts in full bloom. Her "perfect love" with her deceased husband did not enable her to become a mother and this is her opportunity. The vulnerability of Oren's young grand daughter, who his keenly aware that she has been dumped in the hands of an aging, unhappy man who does not want her, is beautifully and delicately rendered.In their struggle to deal with the child, Oren is humbled by Leah's superb ability to cope and begins to grow fond of both Leah and his grand daughter. In spite of his crude behavior toward his neighbors/tenants in the past, love enters the humble community at "Shangri-La" in the form of the arrival of a ten year old, the adoption of a stray dog, the sudden birth of a baby and the transformation of caterpillar into...a butterfly. This happiness is a metaphor for the potential happiness hidden in even the most banal settings and social situations. Only when events conspire to reveal the more elevated nature in people can both young and old face what the future has in store for them--something that is always a question mark.And So It Goes is a far more realistic and beautiful love story than the blockbuster hit that Diane Keaton made with Jack Nicholson, As Good As It Gets, over a decade ago. It is not a movie about "beautiful people" living in spotless white houses in the Hamptons or middle aged divorcées who manage snag aging, jaded producers so rich they date twenty year-old girls. That film was a complete fantasy on every level. (Without Keanu Reeves for visual relief it would have been hard to take some of the love scenes.) And So It Goes is a far gentler, far less glamorous film about love "among the ruins" than As Good As It Gets. Its verisimilitude may make less mature audiences uncomfortable for that reason. Ultimately, Keaton and Douglas pull off their roles like the pros that they are. It's a pleasure to see them get to know one another gradually, albeit clumsily and foolishly, in a way that is true to life. I highly recommend And So It Goes for anyone brave enough to watch fragile people still attempting to transform their lives and move forward in the face of the unknown.

In 1997 John Nicholson perfected the role of the pain-in-the-neck aging man in "As good as it gets", character study, comedy and romance all rolled into one. Then in 2003, with obnoxiousness replaced by flamboyance, he beefed up the romance side in "Something's got to give" playing opposite inimitable Diane Keaton. And here we are, in "And so it goes", with our very own Keaton again radiating her absolutely undiminished charm, and Michael Douglas stepping into the formidable shoes that he fills admirably. Nicholson can now go comfortably into retirement. This is not to say that Douglas becomes another Nicholson. What he offers is an alternative version. His brand of obnoxiousness is matter-of-course rather than zealous, and he has warmth that Nicholson does not have.The story revolves around our protagonist. Although the romance plays a big part, there are other dimensions to recent widower Oren Little's life. Embittered by the experience of 2 years of watching helplessly his wife dying of cancer, Oren has, so he claims, all his compassion drained. The effect is clearly felt by an assortment of human beings (and more, there is a dog) around him: neighbors who are also (unfortunately for them) his tenants, colleagues in the real estate office where he excelled as a sales agent in the last 40 years, prospective buyers of his luxury home and, last but not least, his son, that sets off the plot.When Oren's estranged son, written off as a junkie beyond salvation, shows up with a 10-year old daughter who will become homeless as he goes to serve a jail term of 6 months, Oren is not exactly pleased. Widowed (for a bit longer than Oren) neighbor Leah, a part time lounge singer with a penchant for crying ("for Cry me a river, it doesn't have to be the whole river" Oren once offered his advice), gallantly rises to the occasion, taking in little Sarah until Oren "figures out something". I won't go into the developments which follows a somewhat predictable trajectory.One thing that does deserve a little (no pun intended) elaboration is the idea of "balancing". For the two windowed people (for 2 years and 4 years respectively) falling in love, it is quite a challenge to strike a balance between the sorrow from losing a beloved spouse and joy from the new-found consolation (which, in this movie, is not only spiritual but also physical – "we are animals that have physical needs" quipped Oren at one point). Credibility is already quite a challenge, let alone sympathy and empathy. Keaton and Douglas pulled this off in a way lesser talent could not have.Special credit should go also to 10-year-old Sterling Jerkins, the balance there being between a wild-eyed innocent child and a deprived soul raised in a single-parent, junkie-neighborhood environment. Some of the smaller roles, like her father (Oren's delinquent son), are not mere stereotypes. It turns out later that his jail term is in fact the result of a noble self-sacrificing act. The vast support cast, even those in one-dimensional roles, delivers.For a special bonus, don't be late. The opening credits come with background of endearing "Both sides now", which is a brilliant choice so aptly setting the mood of the entire movie.