Say It Isn't So

James B. Rogers

BY Noel DixPublished Nov 17, 2016

The film starts off with lonely Gilly (Chris Klein) giving a brief opinion on his life through narration, very similar to the style used in Klein's first film, "Election." There was hope that the first ten minutes of "Say It Isn't So" was a preview to what was going to unfold throughout the entire length of the film. But somewhere everything goes horribly wrong and the writing opts not for subtle humour and witty dialogue, but instead for an extremely dumbed-down comedy with very little room for acting ability. Which is a shame considering the leading actor and actress have excellent films under their belts.

When Gilly meets the girl of his dreams in Jo (Heather Graham) it seems their lives will change forever and nothing could stand in their way - except for the fact that there's a good chance they're brother and sister. Both equally disgusted, Jo moves away to Oregon and Gilly turns into a mess as he accepts his new mother (annoyingly played by Sally Field) and disabled father (Richard Jenkins). But when the real brother of Jo turns up at the family's doorstep, Gilly wastes no time to track his sweetheart down to let her know they're not related after all. But throw in the fact that Jo is set to marry a millionaire hunk who's secretly a real jerk (no surprise there) and that her mother will stop at nothing to keep her daughter from marrying into wealth, you have an oddball comedy on your hands.

The main problem with "Say It Isn't So" is that it's the same tiresome story that is just too ridiculous to pass off as reality, so the viewer just turns off their brain and sinks to its level of humour. And that's another problem. This movie is cashing in on the ‘gross-out' phenomenon that's hit theatres the past couple of years, and it's as if the writers are trying to see just how far they can raise the bar of bad taste. Don't be fooled with the fact that the Farrelly brothers have their names on this one, because it's not as writers but producers. If you see this film with the expectations of, say, "There's Something About Mary" then you will be sadly disappointed. Unless, of course, you're keen on an hour-and-a-half of jokes about incest.

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