Georgia Rule

Lindsey Lohan raises hob with her image (her onscreen image) by playing a potty-mouthed, manipulative young tramp in this wildly uneven dramedy directed by Garry Marshall. Rachel (Lohan) has spun totally out of control, so she's being shuttled by her alcoholic mother (Felicity Huffman) from Southern California to small-town Idaho to live with her strict grandmother Georgia (Jane Fonda). Forced to work for the local veterinarian (Dermot Mulroney), Rachel chafes under her newly assigned responsibilities and gets herself in trouble with the local girls by performing oral sex on the town's resident hunk (Garrett Hedlund), who's such an honest guy that he feels compelled to tell his girlfriend. Georgia Rule has some clever dialogue—mostly heard in brittle exchanges between Lohan and Fonda—but the film is hampered by the fact that the normally endearing Lohan is playing a genuinely dislikable character, and Huffman's character as a boozy mom is little better. Worse, the movie's entire third act hinges on whether or not Rachel is telling the truth about having been molested repeatedly by her smarmy stepdad (Cary Elwes), and the ensuing accusations and counter-accusations effectively wipe out any remaining vestiges of humor in this tone-deaf film. Not recommended. [Note: DVD extras include audio commentary by director Garry Marshall, 10 deleted scenes with optional commentary (9 min.), an eight-minute “making-of” featurette, “The Women of Georgia Rule” (7 min.), a gag reel (7 min.), “On the Set with Garry Marshall” (6 min.), and trailers. Bottom line: a decent extras package for a very uneven film.] (E. Hulse)