Must Love Dogs

On paper, this romantic comedy about moving on from divorcée depression has everything going for it: Diane Lane and John Cusack are irresistibly charismatic, the writing is wonderfully witty, and the story has a good hook—namely, the travails of Internet dating for people who are still young, but too mature and serious about love to delve into the meat market of bars and nightclubs. Writer-director Gary David Goldberg (adapting Claire Cook's popular novel) deliberately flirts with and skirts around romantic comedy clichés, making the story seem familiar yet fresh, but the final five minutes are so much worse than any of the genre hallmarks that Must Love Dogs goes out of its way to avoid—so much more sappy, saccharine, ridiculous, and contrived—that it not only breaks the picture's charming spell, but also underscores the film's other flaws: the most notable being that while Lane and Cusack are each magnetic, they lack chemistry as a couple. Optional. [Note: Available in either widescreen or full screen versions, DVD extras include nine minutes of additional scenes with optional commentary by director Gary David Goldberg, a brief “Pass the Beef” gag reel, and trailers. Bottom line: a French-poodle-sized extras package for a disappointing film.] (R. Blackwelder)