The one thing that amazed me as I watched "Must Love Dogs" was the cast - Diane Lane, John Cusack, Elizabeth Perkins, Dermot Mulroney, Stockard Channing, Christopher Plummer.
What were these folks thinking when they agreed to make this film? Did they bother reading the script? I realize it is their wont to make any film they wish, but surely the likes of Lane, Cusack and Mulroney are not wanting for good scripts.
I don't mind predictable scripts - and romantic comedies, by their very nature, are awfully predictable - if they're good, offer some laughs, a few nice moments, a few scenes that ring true. Unfortunately, there isn't a single moment in "Must Love Dogs" that even vaguely resembles anything real. There's not a single genuine character or an honest moment in this entire film.
Everything about this film screams "movie moment," from the family get-togethers to the plot twists, from the inter-family conversations to the dialogue between Lane and Cusack. Even the minor characters are "movie-made." Doubt me? Take a look at the guy behind the deli at the supermarket. Is there anything even vaguely honest or real about his scenes with Lane?
Writer-director Gary David Goldberg - who should stick to TV, where he's good - never bothers to introduce anything that is even slightly unpredictable to his story. He follows all the standard rules of the romantic-comedy genre and seems quite happy hitting the marks without any adding sense of novelty.
We have a woman - Diane Lane deserves so much better than this - who has two male interests. Genre rules say one of the men will eventually turn out to be a rotter. Well, guess what?
A talented cast is wasted is this utter waste of time.
What were these folks thinking when they agreed to make this film? Did they bother reading the script? I realize it is their wont to make any film they wish, but surely the likes of Lane, Cusack and Mulroney are not wanting for good scripts.
I don't mind predictable scripts - and romantic comedies, by their very nature, are awfully predictable - if they're good, offer some laughs, a few nice moments, a few scenes that ring true. Unfortunately, there isn't a single moment in "Must Love Dogs" that even vaguely resembles anything real. There's not a single genuine character or an honest moment in this entire film.
Everything about this film screams "movie moment," from the family get-togethers to the plot twists, from the inter-family conversations to the dialogue between Lane and Cusack. Even the minor characters are "movie-made." Doubt me? Take a look at the guy behind the deli at the supermarket. Is there anything even vaguely honest or real about his scenes with Lane?
Writer-director Gary David Goldberg - who should stick to TV, where he's good - never bothers to introduce anything that is even slightly unpredictable to his story. He follows all the standard rules of the romantic-comedy genre and seems quite happy hitting the marks without any adding sense of novelty.
We have a woman - Diane Lane deserves so much better than this - who has two male interests. Genre rules say one of the men will eventually turn out to be a rotter. Well, guess what?
A talented cast is wasted is this utter waste of time.