For Better and For Worse

Stars: Patrick Dempsey (Can't Buy Me Love, Coup de Ville, Mobsters), Kelly Lynch (Road House, Drugstore Cowboy). Another made-overseas-because-it's-cheaper direct to video snoozer, For Better and For Worse opens with a bright idea and likeable stars before slowly but surely sending viewers into a coma. Robert (Patrick Dempsey) and Catherine (Kelly Lynch) are a lawyer and an artist, respectively, who are both expatriates living in Europe (apparently), and who also fall in love and decide to get married. For fun, a friend sends an invitation to none other than the Pope, and--thanks to the intercession of a greasy promoter--he accepts. But as the wedding date approaches, the very predictable begins to happen. Catherine finds a phone number belonging to one of Robert's colleagues (female) in his jacket pocket; Robert discovers that an older artist (male) has been sending flowers to his bride-to-be. The marriage is off, and the promoter must do everything in his power to bring the couple back together. After a while the audience grows tired of being one step ahead of a run-of-the-mill romantic comedy, and though Dempsey and Lynch try to infuse their characters with some spark, they end up swapping insults in strident voices...endlessly. At which point we're actively hoping they'll each find someone more interesting, someone with a personality. Audience: Very undemanding fans of romantic comedies.