Oren Little, a realtor by trade, develops self-absorption, turning his back on his neighbors and shunning the notion of kindness to others, after his wife dies; part of his self-absorption is having no patience for children, not even his own now-adult son, from whom he has been estranged. He has a next-door neighbor, Leah, whose own husband has likewise died, never having had any children of her own, which leads her to throw her soul and her tears into reviving a singing career that had stagnated. Then, one day, Oren's estranged son suddenly leaves his father in charge of his own nine-year-old daughter Sarah, a granddaughter whom Oren never knew existed. When Oren's estranged son drops Sarah off at his home, needing his father to take care of her, neither Oren nor Leah, each of whom are lonely souls, have any reason to suspect that Sarah's involvement with their lives would enable them to heal their emotional wounds.
The first trailer for the film was released on May 9, 2014. Released on July 25, 2014, the film earned $4,642,329 in its opening weekend. Over its 10-week run, And So It Goes earned a domestic gross of $15,160,801 and foreign gross of $10,151,586, for a total box-office of $25,312,387, against a production budget of $18,000,000.
Reception
And So It Goes received negative reviews from critics. On Rotten Tomatoes it has an approval rating of 18% based on 88 reviews with the consensus: "And So It Goes aims for comedy, but with two talented actors stuck in a half-hearted effort from a once-mighty filmmaker, it ends in unintentional tragedy". On Metacritic it has a weighted average score of 38 out 100 based on 31 reviews, indicating "generally unfavorable reviews". Audiences surveyed by CinemaScore gave the film a grade B+ on scale of A to F. Film critic Leonard Maltin gave the film a positive review, saying the film "offers juicy leading roles to stars Michael Douglas and Diane Keaton." Christy Lemire of Roger Ebert.com also commended the caliber of Douglas' and Keaton's performances, but gave the film 1.5 stars for its storyline, saying: "Nothing here is a spoiler. The outcome is evident from the poster alone". A Washington Post review credits "the film's most alive moments" to Keaton, who channels her Annie Hall character in both her wardrobe and her singing jazz ballads in a local pub. While The Guardian review is happy to see "retirement-age characters" being featured in a film, it criticizes the "banal" plot, saying: "the story structure is so fake and so plodding". Film critic Richard Corliss also gave the film a negative review, saying: "And So It Goes may touch the frayed heartstrings of some older viewers, but it's pretty bad — the failed attempt to Heimlich a venerable movie genre."
