Carter Webb (Adam Brody from TVs “The O.C.” and Mr. & Mrs. Smith) is a struggling L. A. writer, who can’t get a grip on the sexy scenarios he needs to deliver for his soft-porn scripts. He also has trouble hanging on to his supermodel girlfriend Sofia (Elena Anaya). So Carter jumps at a chance to take off for awhile to check up on his ailing grandma (Olympia Dukakis) in a Detroit suburb. 

Carter arrives on a tree-lined street, with front yards that sport explosions of colorful flowers straight out of a Miracle-Gro commercial. Of course, Grandma Phyllis’s pale patch matches the murky mood she’s in as she tries to slam the door on the young man she claims not to recognize. Dukakis’s turn as Carter’s Alzheimer’s affected grandmother grabs your attention.  

Phyllis’s neighbors are the Hardwicke’s. And all the Hardwicke women, young and older, are at crossroads in their lives. Teenager Lucy (Kristen Stewart, from Undertow and Zathura: A Space Adventure) is beginning to understand the complexities of relationships between men and women. Precocious Paige (Makenzie Vega from X-Men: The Last Stand) has a monumental crush on Carter. And Sarah Hardwicke (Meg Ryan, with wonderful on screen presence), their mother, is a woman facing all the challenges that come with life. 

Carter learns something valuable from each of the women in his life. Maturity has neither a development nor an expiration date. Just observe the enlightened view of 10-year-old Paige. 

This is writer/director Jonathan Kasdan’s first feature film. Jon is the son of director Lawrence Kasdan (Grand Canyon, The Accidental Tourist), and his ability to examine the humor and the pathos, and the light and the dark of human experience is evident here. In the Land of Women is worth the trip.