In the Land of Women, due to it's failure to Braff America, has itself become something of a forgotten masterpiece of the Braffing genre. There is a “Coming-of-age” struggle with mortality. The soundtrack invades and overwhelms any attempt to take the film seriously. And there is, of course, the over-the-top pop-psychological melodrama. When exactly does Meg Ryan stop vomiting all over the living room floor? Who showed her the dailies?
However, to the best of my recollection, the critics didn’t bite. Adam Brody did not become the next Ryan Gosling. If a Braff occurs in a vacuum, and no one is there to commercialize it, is it a Braff at all? Reappropriated, the film could be camp genius. Remember Douglas Sirk? I can see it. Clearly his intentions were ironic? I am afraid not. Jon Kasdan, you Braffed. What? You think you are some kind of genius because you wrote an episode of Dawson's Creek? Sorry, TWO EPISODES!!!
Everyone is nice to Jon Kasdan because his dad wrote Empire Strikes Back. Someone has to pay the cinematographer, and who better than Dad and his Hollywood friends? Jon Kasdan's daddy is a clear proto-Braffer. "The Big Chill" anyone? The Big Chill even sets the stage for years of Braffing to come with its "generation defining" soundtrack. Lawrence Kasdan is the Iggy Pop of braffing the shit out of things you're not sure you like anymore. Lawrence Kasdan, like Cameron Crowe and Steve Martin, show that even the elderly can Braff you.
Elizabethtown is the first official time you got Braffed. Remember how you felt on that day? "The Freebird thing was funny, but... FUCK! I've been BRAFFED!" Cameron Crowe was a Braffer before it even had a name. A geriatric braffer. A geri-braffer. Steve Martin's "Shop Girl"? You've got Braff! Jason Schwartzman? Claire Danes? Are you Braffin' me?
In The Land of Women is a total Braff, even though it failed to Braff America. But who knows what the future has in store? Is that all your daddy's got, Jon Kasdan, or are you gonna Braff us like a Hurricane?
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