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"Cute stars make for a cute movie, but most people will be smarter to wait for it on cable."

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Must Love Dogs

A Review by Techtite

Here we have a romance comedy starring two of the most under- appreciated yet talented performers in Hollywood today: John Cusack and Diane Lane. We also have a fantastic supporting cast, including Christopher Plummer, Stockard Channing, Elisabeth Perkins and Dermot Mulroney. I'd dare say, with such a cast, some film crewmember said, "Hey, with a cast this talented, let's just have them 'improv' a story and throw the script right out the window!" Sure, if someone said that, they had a point. They didn't have to take his advice, though.

That isn't to say that the resulting film, Must Love Dogs, is a bad "chick flick." We do have a cute little tale here, of a lovelorn "middle aged" divorcée, Sarah (Diane Lane), who is trying to open her heart to possible love again with fellow dog lover Jake (John Cusack). It is one of those films where the characters are not as important as the performers. There isn't much passion between Sarah and Jake, but Diane and John are so cute a pair we want their characters to get together. It's immaterial if there are any real sparks present. This isn't so much of a passionate "love" story as it is a cute story.

Even the way Sarah finally meets Jake is "cute" more than "passionate." See; Sarah against her will has been put onto an internet dating service by her doting sister, Carol (Elizabeth Perkins). We see various dates she is forced to go on, including an admittedly hilarious moment where dear old widowed dad (Christopher Plummer) is actually her anonymous "date" one evening...much to both of their chagrins! After a few more bad dates, along comes Jake, who seems nice enough but their first meeting went so wrong. Should she give him another chance? Well, you wasted your price for this movie if you think she shouldn't.

Sure, so far this sounds like a good story, and it is.  It just could've been so much better. It's a 90 minute expose of how the best of story ideas can be marred by the tiniest mistakes. For one thing there's the fact that these two supposed love interests spend very little time together throughout the film. In fact; upon leaving the movie theater you realize that "love birds" Jake and Sarah have only had a grand total of two dates, in well over 90 minutes of film. Wow.

Here's an example of the tiniest of mistakes ruining the mood. A campy (and more than slightly ripped off) dinner table scene has a guy pretending to be close to Sarah, so her family will just leave her alone with their dating tips. The family brings up moments of Sarah's past, including her infatuation with David Cassidy. The gang breaks out into song, with Sarah's presumed boyfriend at the piano, as everyone sings the opening tune to The Partridge Family. It's a cute scene. The problem is: Jake isn't in it! Instead, said "boyfriend" is the third point of this love triangle, divorcée Bob (Dermot Mulroney). So, basically, we have one of the cuter moments of the movie, with the supposed love interest nowhere to be seen. Whose brilliant plan was this?

That's the problem with this love story. John Cusack and Diane Lane, cute as they are together, exhibit absolutely no chemistry. In the process, we see little of Jake and Sarah together, with the director apparently feeling that too little chemistry is not a good thing. Then again; neither are two supposed love birds who share screen time together for less than one fifth of the entire movie. In fact; at one point of the movie, Sarah goes back to online dating (!) for no reason than to keep the ball rolling, when it should've been parked on "make-out hill" minutes before. The script writer seems to want the love birds apart until the final five minutes of film, and yet...why'd someone want that? Is this supposed to be a romantic comedy or not?

I understand the effort at work here. Someone wanted to make a romance a la Sleepless in Seattle, where the lovers don't truly meet until the final moments. Yet this isn't like that film at all. For one thing that film had the lovers apart because of geography; in this film they're apart because the script requires it. As a guy, I also didn't appreciate the female sexism involved (Sarah gets to sleep with another guy, with Jake never even finding out). Yet women, for understandable reasons, will still like it. As for these women's male dates: yes, you're being dragged to another chick flick. It could be worse though. Just play along.

---Techtite

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