Must Love Dogs - movie review

Sometimes you just get the hankering for a little celluloid romance. At the moment the theatres are offering Must Love Dogs (the first formula film to be made about online dating) as the treat to be tasted. Originally I had no intentions of seeing this film at the cineplex because its running time (98 minutes) fell below my theatre-viewing parameter of 100 minutes. But then the movie tickets are cheaper in Halifax (and I have a romance deficiency in my own life) so I made an exception.

This film is really a trifle designed specifically to sate the aforementioned "hankering". It is thin, light, and predictable to a fault but then, that is exactly what the women paying for this froth desire. The purpose of this type of film is to do the following:
1) present a relatable heroine of the everygirl genre
2) establish multiple "oh yeah" recognition moments for the target audience
3) offer a male lead the audience will covet
4) maintain women's fairytale-esque notions about romance (in particular - "one day my prince will come")
These things are often surrounded by kooky supporting characters that vex the leads, animals and/or children doing "cute" things, and outlandish final declarations. Such is the world of romantic comedy.

In understanding, and accepting, these guidelines, Dogs does the trick, for the most part. It deserves a sincere pat on the head for incorporating the necessary elements but falls short of a generous belly rub. Diane Lane is relatable and normal and bright. She carries the action with a realistic edge and runs through the romantic routine with savvy. The supporting cast is typical and functional. The story doesn't stray far from the expectations but hits the funny bone with a family-dinner-table-style wit that anyone would enjoy.

Much of the problem is in John Cusack. He just isn't right here even though you desperately want him to be. Cusack has been recruited to be Lloyd Dobler ... twenty years later. It's likely that many of the seats in the theatre will be filled with women in the 30-40 age bracket: they will see themselves in the 40-something Lane, they will be most likely to dabble in internet dating, and they will all have grown up with Say Anything - the classic 80s portrayal of the thinking, sensitive, "perfect" boyfriend. And that was Cusack. So here we get him again, right down to the overcoat and the rambling. The all-black wardrobe is definitive Cusack and he works it here again. The effect is wrong when placed next to the warm-coloured Diane. It's hard to reconcile the Ramones-loving, semi-goth wardrobe with the vintage boat builder that Cusack portrays.

But there is one moment, the first time Cusack's character is introduced when he looks like an average man of that age and you just go, yeah, he's the one. If you can remember that moment for the entire film, maybe the rest will work for you too. Or at the very least, satisfy your urge for voyeuristic romantic notions of the simplest kind.