Before going to see this film just know that you will have to suspend disbelief to the utmost degree if you are going to buy the notion that Lindsay Lohan and her two co-stars - acting powerhouses Felicity Huffman and Jane Fonda are blood related. There isn't a speck of resemblance between any of the three actresses. That aside, you can't help but wonder if Ms. Lohan, a tabloid honey for all of her off screen wild child behavior, really needed to act to take on the role of a tempestuous, uncontrollable teenage vixen. As I was leaving the theatre I heard a few people laughingly say that she was typecast. It's no secret that the young actress was difficult to work with during the making of the film which related to her off screen partying, drug abuse, promiscuity and absence from the set that eventually led to her going into rehab.

With that in mind it must have been a walk through for Lohan to portray Rachel, the rebellious 17 year old from San Francisco, with a history of drinking, drugs, and sex. As messed up as the character is, there are two other women that make up the story of three generations of dysfunctional women.

Lohan is the headstrong California teenager sent (against her will) by her alcoholic 40 something mother Lilly (Huffman) to the fictitious town of Hull, Idaho to live with the grandmother Georgia (Fonda, whom pushing 70, still looks great and fit) she doesn't really know. Lilly can't stand her mother and they've been estranged from Georgia for years. Yet Lilly thinks this seems to be the best place to drop off her uncontrollable daughter in the wake of a car crash, involving a drunken Rachel. The incident pulled out the last of Lilly's straws and she envisions Georgia's brand of boot camp parenting to be her last hope of rescue. According to Lilly, Georgia is the one person Rachel "won't be able to jerk around". Why? Because Georgia's life revolves around rules, exemplified by the way she controls her nest with an iron fist, hence the movie's title.

For example, she is rigid about such things as yard work, eating at a scheduled set time, and heaven forbid you should say the Lord's name in vain unless your want to have you mouth stuffed with a bar of soap. Yet she doesn't see anything wrong about using the F word when she sees fit. MOre mature viewers will be somewhat nostalgic about seeing Fonda looking so much like and channeling her father Henry "Norman" from On Golden Pond.

Each of these women are a piece of work, but most of the story revolves around Rachel, her interaction with several supporting characters and how they fit into the scheme of things. Rachel is a manipulative temptress, or more bluntly a brazen slut/tease, who parades around in oversized sunglasses, skimpy mini dresses, off the shoulder tight blouses, and scant shorts to show off what she's got and will seduce any man she pleases regardless of their marital status. That includes Rachel's in-no-way believable relationship with Harlan (Garrett Hedlund) the young, handsome, Mormon country bumpkin she connects with who happens to be a virgin and engaged to another. He falls in love with Rachel, after being the recipient of a blow job during a boat outing. Old enough to be her father is Dr. Simon Ward, the town's widower veterinarian, (Durmot Mulroney) who used to date Lilly, and is able to withstand Rachel's sexual advances.

Lilly is angry at her mother, years earlier driven away by her behavior only to return with a daughter not unlike her former "problem self." At one point during an alcohol binge (another unbelievable sequence) Lilly cuts off her hair, after which she is left to wear a noticeably fake, dreadful looking, short wig that for the rest of the movie was terribly distracting. How the person responsible for hair and makeup could get away with this is beyond me!

Obviously all three women have issues. But it is Rachel who doesn't know the difference between lying and telling the truth which eventually leads to the subject of child sexual abuse rearing its ugly head. Unfortunately, the approach to this serious subject is poorly executed. Rachel's vacillation between truth and lies about her stepfather Arnold (Cary Elwes) molesting her beginning at the age of 12 does nothing but set up confusion as to what her motives are and why, leaving viewers uncomfortable to say the least. Something as serious and sensitive as sexual abuse should be treated with sure-handedness and not misused as a frivolous plot device. Adding insult to injury, the entire tone of the movie is inconsistent. The humorous moments mixed into this drama are mostly the result of ill fitting crude behavior that had me cringing instead of laughing.

Director Garry Marshall is not at all on his game this time around. I hate to say it but The Pretty Woman, Princess Diaries director fails to deliver likable female characters in this unlikable film that has the women portrayed as either drunk, disrespectful and licentious or neurotically controlling.

Georgia Rules is supposed to be about reconciliation, redemption, forgiveness and the ties that bind. It's the typical love concurs all scenario that fails on too many levels to count. The script is awful and despite the talent involved it succeeds only as a "life imitating art" sideshow attraction.

We want to welcome a new writer to our stable - Las Vegas mover and shaker, and founder of the influential website http://theflickchicks.com/ Judy Thorburn. No one has her finger more smack dab in the center of Las Vegas entertainment scene than Judy and she's been a great friend of zboneman for several years. We're excited to have her on board.