MUST LOVE DOGS A film review by Steve Rhodes
Copyright 2005 Steve Rhodes
RATING (0 TO ****): ***
As you sink into your theater seat for MUST LOVE DOGS, the thought that pros like Diane Lane and John Cusack will be entertaining you for the next hour and half or so is comforting. You suspect that this won't be one of those over-hyped films that will leave you disappointed. And, just as you expect, these two fine actors deliver for you. Sure, there will be those who will warn you away from this picture, since they'll say you've seen this all before. Well sure you have, and who cares? The actors create characters who are genuine, funny and romantic. Maybe you don't feel in the mood for one of those depressing dramas that the critics are pushing. Maybe you'd be happy just to watch a couple of likable stars fall in love on the screen. Well go enjoy yourself.
The story's setup has recently divorced Sarah (Lane) and Jake (Cusack) not at all ready to start dating again, but they are shoved into it by their supportive but meddling family and friends. Jake crafts wooden rowing boats in an age in which the winners all use lighter materials. He is fully aware of this, but he doesn't care as he explains to his best friend, "okay, they can't win, but they'll lose beautifully," -- an obviously self-referential statement. As in HIGH FIDELITY, Cusack's character is full of theories about the world of dating. One of these is that women have a secret narrative, and, if the men in their lives go off script, the women quickly write them out of the story.
Carol (Elizabeth Perkins), Sarah's sister, tries to convince Sarah that the answer to the dating dilemma is the internet, specially the use of date matching services. You guessed it. Jake's best friend signs him up too, and, in no time, Sarah and Jake are an item. Actually, it isn't nearly that easy or simple, although they, of course, do eventually get together. Along the way there are many pitfalls with the funniest being the lack of a condom at the most needed moment. This difficulty provides the genesis for one of the sweetest and funniest condom scenes on record.
The sharply written script provides plenty of good one-liners which the writers share with the entire cast. Dolly (Stockard Channing), one of the many squeezes of Sarah's father (Christopher Plummer), gets several good ones, including one claiming that the best thing about the internet is that "you get to pay your bills naked."
Jordana Spiro, as a promiscuous ditz named Sherry, plays Sarah's intellectual opposite. Sherry is clueless. Jake takes her to see his favorite film, DOCTOR ZHIVAGO, and the depth of her critical analysis of the movie is summarized in her question, "So they were like Communists?" Needlessly to say, Sarah loves the movie and undoubtedly gets it. What you'll get from MUST LOVE DOGS is a delightful motion picture experience, thanks to Lane and Cusack
MUST LOVE DOGS runs 1:38. It is rated PG-13 for "sexual content" and would be acceptable for teenagers.
The film is playing in nationwide release now in the United States. In the Silicon Valley, it is showing at the AMC theaters, the Century theaters and the Camera Cinemas.
Web: http://www.InternetReviews.com
Email: Steve.Rhodes@InternetReviews.com
Want free reviews and weekly movie and video recommendations via Email?
Just send me a letter with the word "subscribe" in the subject line.
-- rec-arts-movies-reviews@robomod.net mailing list http://www.robomod.net/mailman/listinfo/rec-arts-movies-reviews
The review above was posted to the
rec.arts.movies.reviews newsgroup (de.rec.film.kritiken for German reviews).
The Internet Movie Database accepts no responsibility for the contents of the
review and has no editorial control. Unless stated otherwise, the copyright
belongs to the author.
Please direct comments/criticisms of the review to relevant newsgroups.
Broken URLs inthe reviews are the responsibility of the author.
The formatting of the review is likely to differ from the original due
to ASCII to HTML conversion.
Related links: index of all rec.arts.movies.reviews reviews