Must
Love Dogs (not to be confused with the working title of Magnolia - “Must
Love Frogs”) is just good enough to avoid the obvious joke of having it’s
title printed on tickets at the box-office as a disclaimer. In her second rom-com
since her Oscar nominated turn in Unfaithful, Diane Lane reprises her role as
the 40 something MILF that she played in the equally innocuous, occasionally entertaining
Under The Tuscan Sun. Must Love Dogs, however, gets no help in the scenery department
(taking place in some generic Southern California city) and must therefor rely
on the always reliable John Cusack and the spotty but sometimes observant screenplay
adapted by Gary David Goldberg (who also directs) from Claire Cook’s successful
novel of the same name.
This
is the sort of Ephron-esque affair that would have starred Ryan and Hanks ten
years ago, and though I’m not a particular fan of the above-mentioned rom-com
swami, Must Love Dogs is no When Harry Met Sally or even Sleepless in Seattle
for that matter. The film starts out with the requisite suspension of disbelief
necessary when one is asked to buy the fact that a woman who looks like Diane
Lane is having trouble finding someone who’ll go out with her. Her character
Sarah, recently divorced is suddenly plagued by the good intentions of family
and friends intent upon lining her up. Chief among them is her overbearing sister
(Elizabeth Perkins) who immediately sets about using the internet as a way to
start filling the slots in Sarah’s dance card.
The
internet is then the means by which Lane and Cusack end up meeting, but only after
the obligatory montage of dates from hell, that the two as well as the audience
must first endure. Is there any invention or originality during these sequences
. . . no. However when the two mains meet there are sparks and during the feeling
out process there are moments that I must admit entertained me, as well as those
which were just silly and I would say formulaic, if I weren’t afraid that
some were intended to be so outlandish as to not be considered formulaic. Whichever,
the dialogue and the arc of their budding relationship is never consistently smooth,
but Lane and Cusack do share a satisfying number of scenes that were really on
the money - to the point where you forgot all about the fact that the plot completely
lacked any conflict.
Technically
speaking, this isn’t altogether accurate either - because earlier in the
film Sarah (a pre-school teacher) had already developed a healthy interest in
Dermot Mulroney - the father of one of her young charges, who had recently separated
from his wife. So in terms of conflict, Sarah eventually becomes somewhat torn
between two equally charming and seemingly perfect potential suitors. As I watched
this dilemma unfold I was reminded of the far superior, The Notebook. True that
film was more or less a drama, but Rachel McAdams was similarly plagued by a decision
she had to make between two earnest charmsters. I will say that in both cases,
this was a refreshing change from the hackneyed scenario where it’s an impoverished
bohemian with a sense of humor and a pure heart, vs. the rich guy, who must supplant
money for class, charm, personality etc. Thus we get something of a clash of class
- Mulroney with his earnest crooked smile, Vs Cusack with his stand outside your
window holding up a ghetto-blaster romanticism.
I
shant divulge much more than this, I do think the majority of critics were a little
harder on this film than is justified, I’ll go to the carpet for any film
that maintains witty, yet believable dialogue, which Goldberg does manage to do.
And there are some fun moments to be had in the scenes spent with Sarah’s
off-beat family, headed by the still adorable Mr. Von Trapp himself, Christopher
Plummer. The Problem with Must Love Dogs is definitely it’s fizzle-fest of
an ending and the fact that Goldberg felt compelled to cram way too much stuff
into it (silly, implausible stuff). Still as a date movie for the 30 plus set
you could do much worse. And in this summer where the home entertainment center
reared it’s ugly head, leaving so much popcorn to spoil at the multi-plex,
I felt good about fighting the good fight and supporting this industry that I
love. That being said - Must Love Dogs is really the exact type of film that spawned
the phrase “Wait for video!” I’m afraid that’s awfully canny
advise.
