“A Lot Like Love” Directed by Nigel Cole
Touchstone Pictures
The writers of “A Lot Like Love” seem to have taken
the “If at first you don’t succeed, try, try
again” idea a little too much to heart. Oliver (Ashton
Kutcher) and Emily (Amanda Peet) share an anonymous hookup in an
airplane lavatory and from that point forward, pursue each other on
and off over the course of seven years. Naturally their meetings
always have bad timing, either immediately following a breakup (at
which point it is too soon to move on) or while one is seeing
someone else. While a little too drawn out, the overall concept of
a seven-year span is entertaining, as we get to see how each of
them change over time (and change they do ““ Peet starts off
the movie in her rebellious punk stage and ends as a professional
photographer), yet have a constant attraction for each other.
Kutcher and Peet are perfectly cast and play well off each other,
engaging the viewer into their quirky relationship. Peet
transitions seamlessly through her character’s different
stages and very convincingly plays the role of the betrayed
girlfriend (one of her boyfriends ends up dating her close friend),
making the viewer really root for her happiness. Kutcher has the
slightly dorky, everyday kind of guy part down to a science and for
the most part, is very likeable. The exception is a scene in which
Oliver and Emily are playing the “let’s see who cannot
talk the longest” game (always thrilling to watch) and Emily
pretends to choke, trying to trick Oliver into asking if she is
okay. While probably only three minutes long, the scene feels like
the entire seven-year span of the movie and really just isn’t
funny. Cliched characters and scenes are present in full force, the
most prevalent being a scene in which Oliver comes home from
working late at the office and his girlfriend announces something
along the lines of “You’re never here and even when you
are, you’re not really here. I just can’t do this
anymore.” Yeah. That’s a new one. The movie does have
its endearing and genuinely funny moments, but they are
overshadowed by the many moments that are simply not funny or even
just plain awkward. While trying to cheer up a crying Emily (who,
it is important to note, is crying over the birthday of her
deceased mother), Oliver tells a joke centered around a kid burying
a cat he has killed for eating his goldfish. While the point of the
joke is its inappropriateness, which is meant to make Emily laugh,
we are just left feeling uncomfortable. It’s not even the
“I shouldn’t be laughing but this is funny” kind
of situation; it’s just uncomfortable.While cute in its story
line and characters, “A Lot Like Love” is more rent-it
cute then pay-exorbitant-nighttime-movie-prices cute. -Jessica
Rothenberg