Must Love Dogs

Let me start out this review by saying how much I love dogs. A year ago my own dog, who was only ten years old died of cancer. I know it may sound corny, but she really was my best friend. I loved the way she smelled, her kisses, and ability to seek out food when ever it was in reach. She was a cocker spaniel, so you know I miss the way she use to cuddle with me, taking over my bed and the blankets. For me, she was as loyal, loving, and smart as any person could be. And even my dad, who’s not an animal lover, by any means, wound up really loving her too. That is no small feat.

The new film Must Love Dogs stars Diane Lane as a thirty something preschool teacher named Sarah who is done looking for love. Her heart was broken by her husband who just stopped loving her. It's been eight months since the divorce and her family thinks that it is time for her to get back out in the game. Her own father (Christopher Plummer, A Beautiful Mind), recently widowed, has been getting more action tahn she has. He has even turned into a bit of womanizer. Her sisters, Carol (Elizabeth Perkins, 28 Days) and Christine (Ali Hillis) pretend to be her, leaving a message on an internet dating service that reads: Voluptuous, sensuous, alluring and fun. DWF seeks special man to share starlit nights. Must love dogs." And once the message is sent, Sarah receives many offers and a romantic triangle blossoms with only trouble ahead.

John Cusak and Dermot Mulroney play the other two sides of this romantic triangle. Cusak is a boat builder named Jake Anderson, also recently divorced and neurotic.
Dermot Mulroney is Bob Connor, newly separated single dad whose young son is one of Sarah's students. He is about to receive his P.H.D. As we know he’s got the good looks, the adorable son, basically the entire package. He just might be too good to be true.

As predictable as everything is, it's also entertaining for its star Diane Lane. She played a similar role in the 2003 release Under the Tuscan Sun. Lane has the ability in this part to be beautiful, but unassuming. She has real comic timing and a nice vulnerability. The film really sits on her shoulders and she happily carries it with ease.

John Cusak is also in similar territory as a neurotic, single guy looking for a kind of love every woman dreams of. His scenes work mostly because there's already a huge likeability factor from his body of work, and chemistry with Diane Lane that is real and spontaneous. It is fun to watch them together and you do find yourself rooting for them to make it in the end; Which is

definitely a greater accomplishment than most might give credit for, considering the predictability factor that comes with most romantic comedies.

Dermot Mulroney has less to do as the seemingly perfect man, but he does make the triangle more interesting. Elizabeth Perkins also does fine work as the overprotective sister. She has a nice chemistry with Lane and that helps overcome the predictability of their scenes, scenes that seem to occur only to move the plot forward and provide some background exposition.

I also must say I really enjoyed Stockard Channing's take on what we seem to think is the free-spirited other woman who the three sister's dad is now dating.

The films biggest surprise comes towards the end of the film when Jake goes on a date and he runs into Sarah. It's not what happens between them, but the girl he's with that gets some of the biggest laughs in the film. Her name is Jordana Spiro and she plays the stereotypical dumb blonde, but with real comic timing and great line delivery. She leaves the film with the audience wanting more of her.

I also enjoyed how the film began with confessionals of how to get the perfect mate, and then ended with some of those characters winding up with the love of their lives.

The film does count a bit too much on the soundtrack, but it does not overstay its welcome with a quick ninety-five minute running time. Its final act does get a bit melodramatic as the film tries to go for a big romantic ending that feels kind of silly. It would have been better to have underplayed it because the humor throughout the film is more subtle, coming mostly through Diane Lane's reactions to the events in her life.

In the end Must Love Dogs is an agreeable, entertaining, inoffensive trifle that should appeal to it's target demographic. It is based on a book by Claire Cook.

Movie Grade: B-

Must Love Dogs

Synopsis:

Sarah Hurlihy (Lane), a divorced preschool teacher who has sworn off dating after her bad breakup, finds her family pushing her back into the dating world. Her sister places a personal ad for her, declaring that anyone answering it “must love dogs,” despite the fact that Sarah doesn’t own a dog herself. When someone intriguing responds to the ad, she decides to borrow Mother Theresa, her brother’s dog, and plunge in.