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Must Love Dogs
Movie Stats & Links |
| Starring: |
Diane Lane, John Cusack, Dermot
Mulroney, Elizabeth Perkins, Stockard Channing |
| MPAA Rated: |
PG-13 |
| Released By: |
Warner Bros. |
| Web Site: |
mustlovedogsmovie.com |
| Kiddie Movie: |
They'd be bored. |
| Date Movie: |
She was the who
will drag you to it. |
| Gratuitous Sex: |
Some nice pushing
up of Sarah's boobies and Jake and Sarah almost get it on
only one thing is missing. |
| Gratuitous
Violence: |
Nah. |
| Action: |
A chase scene for
a condom. |
| Laughs: |
Lots of chuckles. |
| Memorable
Scene: |
The chase for a
condom which was predictable, yet I still laughed. |
| Memorable
Quote: |
Jake to Sarah:
"I love Carol." Jake, so do I. |
| Directed By: |
Gary David
Goldberg |
| Produced By: |
Suzanne Todd,
Jennifer Todd, Gary David Goldberg |
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Must Love Dogs
A Movie Review |
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Look, I like to say that for the most part I’m man’s man.
No, not that kind of man’s man, I’m talking about the fact
that I drink beer, am pretty good with power tools, and if I
took apart my car engine I could probably get it back
together with only a few parts left over. That, and I like
dudettes. But I have to admit that I can like a good
romantic comedy, especially when it stays away from being
overly schmaltzy. Needless to say I liked "Must Love Dogs,"
and I’m not saying that just because I find Diane Lane one
hot lady.
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Pretty much the story is that Diane Lane is Sarah. She
teaches pre-school and is recently divorced. Jake, also
newly divorced, builds boats that nobody seems to buy, and
he is played by John Cusack. Sarah’s family seemed fixed on
getting Sarah back into the dating game, Jake’s friend
Charlie (Ben Shenkman) just wants Jake to quit watching "Dr.
Zhivago" and get laid, at least for now, so we get lots of
friends and family intermingling in the personal lives of
Jake and Sarah. Well, the intermingling takes to the
internet as Sarah’s sister lists Sarah on a dating site, and
Charlie goes and sets up Jake on a date with Sarah, whose
online profile says that she is voluptuous and her suitors
must love dogs. So our couple meets, with Jake being more of
a spazz, kinda scaring Sarah away, but even though their
initial meeting didn’t go that well, they both felt some
kind of connection. Enter a wrinkle, namely Bob (Dermot
Mulroney). Bob is the father of one of Sarah’s students, and
he too, is on the way to divorceville, and even though the
divorce is supposedly because of Bob’s messing around, Sarah
is attracted to him as well.
So yea, you can guess what is going to happen, especially
if you saw the trailer: Sarah and Jake really start to hit
it off, Jake thinks things are going well until he sees
Sarah and Bob together, eventually Jake and Sarah are
miserable without each other, and then they get together.
Look, the story doesn’t stray much from the standard
romantic comedy way of doing things, but this movie works
because of Diane Lane and John Cusack, Lane playing the
insecure Sarah pretty much perfectly and Cusack’s acting
with the "talking too much but somehow getting the right
words out even though he didn’t mean it but then saying the
wrong thing even though he doesn’t mean it" dude he has
played in previous films, working just as well if not
better. The wacky family antics of Sarah’s family also fit
in most of the time.
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If you like a decent romantic comedy, you won’t go wrong
with "Must Love Dogs." There’s a lot of fun, they keep the
script from being overly gooey and lovey-dovey, and I had a
good time. I know there aren’t any surprises, no strange
twist, no overly-weepy "why can’t they realize that they are
meant to be with each other" moment, but sometimes there
doesn’t need to be. I just liked the dialogue, and it
doesn’t hurt having Diane Lane on the screen, wearing an
outfit that Sarah tells Jake her sister, Carol, made her
wear, with Jake replying "I love Carol." I love Carol as
well. 3 ½ stars out of 5 for "I Love Dogs."
That’s it for this one! I’m The Dude on the Right!!
L8R!!! |
