As the title suggests, In the Land of Women is a story told by an outsider to that world: A man.

It's a point-of-view that leads to a wee bit of stereotyping. Women, you'll come to understand, are young and insecure but willing ... middle-aged and insecure but willing ... and old, crazy and willing.

Even the hero's mom is middle-aged, insecure and willing. And a nag. But never mind.

Adam Brody takes a break from TV's The O.C. to star as Carter, a Hollywood writer whose girlfriend has just broken up with him. Carter is devastated. He decides to lie low in Michigan and hang out with his grandma, who needs the company. Grandma (Olympia Dukakis, in a terrific performance) is a feisty hypochondriac.

Across the suburban street from Grandma lives a pleasant-looking dysfunctional family -- and both the mom and the teenage daughter notice that Carter has come to visit.

The mom (Meg Ryan) is having a complicated mid-life crisis involving her own health and her husband's infidelity.

Her teenage daughter Lucy (Kristen Stewart) is having an adolescent crisis involving boys and school and dad's infidelity. Both women respond to Carter, talking to him at length and eventually showing their romantic attraction to him. Even the little sister in the family (Makenzie Vega) asks Carter to marry her when she grows up. Despite how it sounds, none of this is particularly icky.

It is manipulative, to some extent. In the Land of Women has plenty of cliched material, but it also has enough good stuff to redeem itself, over and over, and keep you watching.

Several moments -- the teenage Lucy explaining the aftermath of a bit of fumbling sexual curiosity from childhood, for example -- are powerful enough to offset the dross. (Essay Question: Could someone really jog right into a tree? And is that funny?)

There's something good-hearted about In the Land of Women. It's unusual in that the central character enjoys the company of women in general, and the story displays a hopeful attitude about love, family and communication. To Adam Brody's credit, his performance anchors that atmosphere, but everyone in the cast is strong.

In the Land of Women is an auspicious directing debut for Jon Kasdan, who also wrote the story. As the son of filmmaker Lawrence Kasdan, he may have learned his way around cast and camera by osmosis as much as anything else.

As the sort of writer who has Meg Ryan murmer, "Los Angeles? I was there a long time ago," Kasdan displays a whimsical sense of humour that translates nicely to the screen. It will be interesting to see what he does next.

(This film is rated PG)
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