Grade: C+ | Milly Wilder (Mandy Moore) is cute, funny, an accomplished chef and oh, so single – something her overbearing mother Daphne (Diane Keaton) has serious problems with. She doesn’t want her youngest daughter to end up alone, but God forbid she end up with someone less than perfect.

Deciding to take her daughter’s love life into her own hands, Daphne creates an online personal ad to find Milly an ideal man. After a barrage of sub-par candidates comes Jason (Tom Everett Scott), an architect who lives up to all of Mom’s criteria for what a “good man” is. And then there’s Johnny (Gabriel Macht), a laid-back, guitar-playing quasi-hipster and everything Daphne wants to keep away from her daughter. Ultimately, it doesn’t matter what Mom wants, because Milly’s decision is the one that matters. But who will she choose?

While “Because I Said So” certainly isn’t “Saved!” in showcasing Mandy Moore’s acting potential, Moore does a good enough job playing the exasperated and headstrong daughter, opposite Keaton’s over-protective, smothering mother. Whether bickering or crying, their shared on-screen moments are some of the best in the film, and the dichotomy of the two is something that makes “Because I Said So” watchable – people can both understand and commiserate.

Unfortunately, the same cannot be said about Milly’s romantic escapades with Jason and Johnny. They fall flat more often than not, because it’s the same old bag of tricks. One guy is rich, polite and aloof; the other is humble, genuine and quirky. It’s painfully obvious which guy she’s going to choose within moments of their introduction, so is all the angst and indecision necessary? Scott and Macht are able to breathe a bit of life into the characters, but neither offer anything spectacular. Except, of course, pretty faces.

Before anyone goes racing off to see this, one last warning: Sex has a place in these sorts of movies (often to enhance a sweet or comedic moment), but, frankly, it’s a bit unsettling in this film. The problem comes when the story abruptly shifts focus from Milly’s love life to Daphne’s sex life. Enter Joe (Stephen Collins), Johnny’s charming father and, well, one can guess the rest. While it’s great that Mama Wilder gets her groove back, seeing it is a bit uncomfortable. Honestly, was there someone banging down doors to see Annie Hall and Reverend Camden doing the horizontal mambo? After this shift is made, the film is split between mother and daughter, and their respective romances, with Mom winning out in the end. By the time the credits start, one is left wondering, “What about Milly?”