Peace, Love and Misunderstanding

Catherine Keener stars as Diane - a conservative, Manhattan attorney whose husband (Kyle MacLachlan) asks for a divorce. Needing to get away from it all, Diane loads the kids, Zoe (Elizabeth "The Other Olsen Sister" Olsen) and Jake (Nat Wolff), into the SUV and heads to her mother's place in upstate Woodstock. Yep, mother Grace (Jane Fonda) is a tried and true hippie still living the life of peace, love and ganja/pot/grass/weed/California gold/mary jane/the reefer/marijuana.

Of course, the whole trip turns out to be a chance for the estranged Mom and Daughter to find some middle ground, and the kids to find possible new romance.

Maybe Diane also will find romance because that's what happens in movies like this?

Peace, Love and Misunderstanding wants us all to wallow in the troubles of this well-to-do family as the clichés come fast and furious at the audience. Don't get me wrong. I like these One Magical Summer kind of movies, but this one is a bit more obvious than the rest.

Ultra-liberal vegetarian Zoe falls for the hunky butcher, Cole (Chace Crawford).

Dorky Jake is making a movie about all of this, and falls for the cute girl in town, Tara (Marissa O'Donnell).

And, Diane finds her passions stirred by bohemian, scruffy, guitar strumming, low budget Javier Bardem clone, Jude (Jeffrey Dean Morgan).

Thankfully, the cast helps make the movie palatable.

Fonda is fantastic in ways that remind you of her Oscar winning ways and historic heritage and acting DNA, while helping you forget her last big movie was that disaster Georgia Rule with Lindsay Lohan. Grace is the stereotypical hippie holding too tightly onto the 60's, but Fonda brings more warmth, wisdom and subtlety to her. Instead of becoming a doofy ditz, Grace becomes the rock of Peace, Love and Misunderstanding when writers Joe Muszynski and Christina Mengert let her be real.

Then, Crawford shocked me with his soulful butcher with a conscience and heart. It's all underneath the surface with this guy, and Crawford is refreshing to watch as he unveils little portions of this character's beliefs and feelings.

Peace, Love and Misunderstanding might not be worth seeking out, but, if you need something to do on a Saturday night and its playing at the theater around the corner, you could do worse. It's better than getting stuck with Battleship.

Peace, Love and Misunderstanding is rated R for drug content and some sexual references.