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A Lot Like Love By David DiCerto Catholic News Service NEW YORK (CNS) -- Director Nigel Cole's occasionally appealing but mostly forgettable "A Lot Like Love" (Touchstone) is a lot like too many other contemporary romantic comedies, especially those of the opposites-attract variety. Boy meets girl. Boy loses girl. Boy gets girl. Audience loses interest. The boy is Oliver (Ashton Kutcher), a button-down recent college graduate from Los Angeles who is still living at home and has plans of starting his own Internet business. The girl is Emily (Amanda Peet), an impulsive free spirit with a track record of having her heart broken. Oliver and Emily meet in a cutesy manner on a cross-country flight to New York, after he apparently had already witnessed her most recent relationship implode on the way to the airport. They lock eyes while waiting at the gate, and have sex (implied) when Emily spontaneously bursts into the plane's bathroom where Oliver is cleaning up after a soda spill. They return to their respective seats without even knowing each other's name. Once in New York, they find themselves on a subway platform where, after Oliver turns on the charm, Emily tells him that he is not her type, even though they seem to be hitting it off well. A chance encounter later in the day leads to an afternoon together. Over beers, the conversation turns to long-term goals. Emily has none; Oliver, on the other hand, has his future mapped out. He half-jokingly bets Emily that he will be rich and married to an attractive woman within six years' time, and even gives her his phone number so she can verify his predicted success. They part ways, but neither completely lets go. He starts a lucrative online diaper service. She gives acting a try -- moving in with a struggling screenwriter (Gabriel Mann) who dumps her -- before taking up photography. Their paths cross over the years, in different cities and different life situations. Each time they meet their attraction grows though neither will admit it. In between the contrived complications there are breaks for requisite banter about the difficulties of modern relationships and the vagaries of the human heart. It doesn't require much imagination to guess where this one's heading. Kutcher, whose performance is a marked improvement over last year's "Butterfly Effect," is likable, though still a bit bland. Peet is more interesting to watch but seems undercut by the mediocre material. Together, they don't generate many sparks. You never really care if they wind up together, especially since the obstacles keeping them apart are, for the most part, self-imposed. Kal Penn and Kathryn Hahn play Oliver's and Emily's respective best buddies, just two of the numerous underdeveloped supporting roles. The direction is competent but unremarkable. The kismet-themed script aspires to "When Harry Met Sally," but with its lame dialogue and predictable plot it falls way short of its mark. Despite a breezy "love involves taking chances" message, the film includes a casual attitude toward premarital sex and inappropriately risque situations -- like the anonymous airplane episode and a moonlit tryst in the desert -- which push the envelope of its PG-13 rating. The film contains several sexual encounters, including one with shadowy nudity, drunkenness and some crude language. The USCCB Office for Film & Broadcasting classification is A-III -- adults. The Motion Picture Association of America rating is PG-13 -- parents are strongly cautioned. Some material may be inappropriate for children under 13. - - - DiCerto is on the staff of the Office for Film & Broadcasting of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops. END Copyright (c) 2005 Catholic News Service/USCCB. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or otherwise distributed. CNS · 3211 Fourth St NE · Washington DC 20017 · 202.541.3250 |
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