Rated PG-13 for adult content and brief nudity
Other titles: 7 ANOS DE SEDUCCION (Spanish), and 7 ANS DE SEDUCTION (French), both translated meaning SEVEN YEARS OF SEDUCTION; EL AMOR ES LO QUE TIENE (Spanish for LOVE IS WHAT IT'S BEEN; SO WAS WIE LIEBE (German for SO MUCH LIKE LOVE); SBALLATI D'AMORE (Italian for A LOT LIKE LOVE); Szerelem sokadik látásra (Hungarian for LOVE AT UMPTEENTH SIGHT);
A LOT LIKE LOVE has been compared with the iconic love story WHEN HARRY MET SALLY. I never saw WHMS, so I can't fairly compare. All I know is, ALLL is merely average. Nothing truly memorable happens between the couple depicted. Its tagline is: There is nothing better than romance to ruin a perfectly good friendship.
Problem is, I really didn't see what I'd call a friendship. The two main characters spend much of the timeframe of this story apart. They get together every several years and whoop it up without really opening up and getting to know each other.
It all starts circa 1998, when Third Eye Blind and Smash Mouth ruled the airwaves. Two twenty-somethings, dressed in slacker/grunge gear, meet on a flight from L.A. to N.Y.C. The girl is Emily (Amanda Peet) who is impulsive enough to corner the boy, Oliver (Ashton Kutcher) in the loo and give him a good shag. Her character will remind any fellow Six Feet Under fan of the adventurous Brenda Chenowith, who screwed Nate Fisher in an airport utility room before she learned his name. Oliver tries to get to know the strange new girl in his life a little better, but its her parents who end up having to reveal her name to him. She resists any kind of real interaction, asking him, "Are you stalking me???" when he follows her off the subway. After taking some fun photos in the city, they part ways with a "Don't...you'll ruin it..." from Emily. She likes things as they are and doesn't want anything systematic to, well, ruin her sense of adventure.
In 2001, Emily is back home in L.A. and out of the blue, decides to call Oliver to be her New Year's date. You get to meet Oliver's family: his mom (Amy Aquino), his crabby sister Ellen (Taryn Manning), and his deaf brother Graham (Tyrone Giordano). But so what??? You really don't get to know them. You are left wondering why they even bother introducing the characters. They contribute little insight to Oliver and even less to the story. Ollie and Em dress up and dance and party while Em tries to make her ex-beau, Peter (Gabriel Mann) jealous. She's a struggling actress while Oliver is hatching up an internet diaper enterprise with his pal Jeeter (Kal Penn). Their chemistry seems great, but the trouble is, Oliver is moving to the Bay Area to pursue his business goals, so the couple parts again.
In 2003 or thereabouts, Oliver is a workaholic whose beautiful girlfriend (he often bragged to Emily about his plans for a mega-successful business and a beautiful wife) Bridget (Moon Bloodgood) is unhappy with him constantly being gone. She dumps him and he and Emily run into each other yet again. They take a road trip into the middle of nowhere, complete with junkfood and laughter, yet they never get into any real discussion. Is this why they continue to enjoy each other's company so much??? They never truly reveal themselves to each other (being naked together doesn't count)??? They are each other's break from real life and the grindstone I'd guess.
Back to real life. Oliver continues trying to build up his diaperrush.com and Emily, who has made quite a success of herself with photography, has met a nice guy named Ben (Jeremy Sisto, at last, although he is barely developed, just like most of the secondary characters). In 2004, Oliver's business has failed and he's back home with the family, feeling like the loser of the universe. Emily is engaged to Ben, but isn't happy. Oliver is on her mind.
Emily is on Ollie's mind too, and he tracks her down and sees her artistic success. He sings her a song (this guitar thing with lovelorn guys is just too common in movies nowadays) and she tells him she's engaged. Why she doesn't tell Ollie then and there that she's not in love with the guy is beyond me. It's clear she ain't. Ollie is heartbroken. Emily breaks it off with Ben and goes after Ollie, and finally, the movie is overwith. So what happened??? Did Em and Ollie finally just decide to give long term love a try instead of craving adventure and "shopping" for the perfect life??? Who knows??? Who cares??? Perhaps I'm just biased for Jeremy Sisto and think he'd have made a better husband. Perhaps I'm an old fuddy-duddy who focuses too much on details when I should just believe that these two could care less about eternity...they just like to be together 'cause they like to laugh and forget about real life.
Maybe I just think the whole thing is kind of pointless and irritating because of the "safety in numbers" cast. You've got Jeremy, who is about the best thing this movie has going for it. He looks cute as hell, especially in the bar-be-que scene or whatever. You've got people like Aquino, Bloodgood, Manning, and Kathryn Hahn as Em's sister and Ali Larter as Em's friend Gina. These secondary characters do little more than fill a space on the set and "people" the story in some attempt to flesh out the two main protags.
The most generous grade I could give this film is a B- or a C+. It's cute, bubbly, sexy and funny in many ways, but it's just not a landmark romantic comedy.
DVD info
UPDATE 02/21/09: As of February 18, 2009, A LOT LIKE LOVE is available on DVD in Japan! Go to Amazon.co.jp or Sonima.co.jp for more!
Region 1 DVD USA/CANADA from Touchstone Home Video
Special Features: Blooper reel, pretty nice filmmakers' commentary, extended/deleted scenes
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a lot like love