If you are in line at the movie theatre this week and undecided on what to see, please pay attention to the people who are frantically searching for an exit after being subjected to the first few minutes of Because I Said So. This film is one of the worst romantic comedies of the decade. 

Mandy Moore plays Milly, an attractive and single 23-year-old, who is likable as well as emotionally and financially secure. Her problem? She can’t find a man and sustain a relationship with him. Raised by single mom Daphne (Diane Keaton), Milly’s two sisters (Lauren Graham and Piper Perabo) established successful careers and recently got married. Daphne now insists Milly needs a man who is right for her. However, Milly doesn’t have time for such a relationship because she focuses entirely on her  career as a caterer.

Daphne disregards her daughter’s feelings, believing that a mother knows the best road for her children to take -- even though Milly is an adult perfectly capable of making such decisions for herself. After purchasing a new computer, Dapne logs onto the Internet and begins to browse a series of dating web sites to find the right one for a personal ad. She asks men who fit a long list of criteria to contact her and audition for the opportunity to date her daughter.

Of course, it’s Daphne who meets the men responding to her advertisement. She does so in the lounge of a hotel bar where a blues guitarist named Johnny (Gabriel Macht) has been performing all day for patrons. He becomes curious when he notices Daphne meeting scores of men at her table. 

After Daphne tells him about Milly and the online ad, Johnny decides he wants to date her daughter. However, Daphne refuses because she believes Johnny’s life is unstable and that he would break Milly’s heart. Instead, Daphne picks Jason (Tom Everett Scott), who’s extremely dull and not the type of person Milly would be attracted to or want to date. Jason seems the perfect choice to Daphne because he’s attractive, emotionally stable, and makes loads of money as an architect.

He’s also the opposite type of person Milly usually gravitates to, which Daphne believes is a good thing. Furthermore, Jason seems willing to follow Daphne’s explicit directions on how to begin pursuing Milly. Soon, unknown to Daphne (and to Johnny and Jason), Milly starts seeing both men simultaneously. Of course, problems arise.

Problems also become evident in Karen Leigh Hopkins and Jesse Nelson’s screenplay. It’s predictable, clichéd and unoriginal. And more are obvious in Keaton and Moore’s extremely weak performances. These two have no onscreen chemistry as mother and daughter. It’s actually painful to watch Keaton’s whiny, clingy, bossy and ultimately unpleasant turn as Daphne. The final blow involves director Michael Lehmann’s loss of control over Keaton and Moore. Clearly, Lehmann didn’t know how to reel them in and tone down their performances, so both of these actresses go embarrassingly over the top.  

(Released by Universal Pictures and rated “PG-13” for sexual content including dialogue, some mature thematic material and partial nudity.)