Written by Colin Patrick Lynch Directed by Nigel Cole Running Time: 1:45 Rated PG-13 for sexual content, nudity and language. B-

A Lot Like Love was a standard romantic comedy. It had some funny moments, some sad moments and some boring moments but in the end I left the theater feeling good.

Emily and Oliver first meet on a flight from Los Angeles to New York. It's the kind of meeting most men only dream about; it takes place in an airplane bathroom. When they reach New York, they seem to keep running into each other, and end up spending the day together before parting ways. A few years later on a whim, Emily calls the number Oliver gave her, and once again they spend a great day together, but the powers that be determine that it isn't their time yet and once again, they part. Flash forward another couple of years and they meet again, and yet again, the timing isn't right. But this is a romantic comedy and through it all you know the stars will eventually align and these two seemingly opposite people will finally find true love in each other.

This is the second Ashton Kutcher film I've seen in the last month and I have to say, he's growing on me. I liked him a lot more in this than I did in Guess Who. His character was a lot more believable and interesting. He looked a little goofy in the beginning with his longish hair, but he was cute and entertaining. I mean, if someone like Amanda Peet came into an airplane bathroom while you were there, wouldn't you be pretty happy? That's the kind of thing most men only dream about when seeing a hot girl at an airport, and he lived the dream. He ended up with an understandable crush on her, while she at first only wanted to have some fun, but you could tell she started to like him too. She just thought that it could never lead to anything. Amanda Peet was much more fun in this film than in any other I've seen her in. Most of the time when I think of Amanda, I think of somewhat annoying or stupid characters that look good but have no other real redeeming qualities. Her character of Emily was vulnerable and sweet, but was very wary of being hurt.

The way the story was laid out was interesting. I had imagined that the majority of the film would take place in the present, with the first 15-20 minutes setting up the backstory. I was pleasantly surprised to see that most of the movie takes place in various points in the past so you could really see their relationship develop. I'm not sure I really believe that a relationship could evolve into true love after spending a grand total of what, 3-4 days together over the period of 7 years? But I liked the characters and wanted them to get together, no matter what obstacles were thrown in their way.

I did think it was a little strange how the movie started in 1998 or thereabouts and yet their style changed so dramatically. I don't recall life being all that different, but maybe I'm getting old. I thought it was rather funny how they talked about the 'internet' as something that was really up and coming. They did a nice job of tailoring the music to the specific year; I'm not sure the last time I heard Semi-Charmed Kind of Life. The supporting cast was decent enough, although virtually unimportant. Emily had a couple of boyfriends that didn't treat her right and broke her heart. Oliver had a girlfriend that got annoyed and left. Emily and Oliver always had such a good time together and yet never took it any further than a day, it made you wonder why. It's not like the relationships they were in were shown to be good ones. The first time we see Emily she's yelling at her boyfriend. The next time we see her, her boyfriend dumps her after sex. The first time we see Oliver with his girlfriend, she dumps him. At no point do we see them having fun. We could assume up till that exact moment everything has been peachy, but what we see are two people not having any fun, except when they're with each other, and yet they never get together. What took seven years?

So overall, I liked A Lot Like Love. It was cute and sweet and the two leads were entertaining. It had some holes and some of it went beyond the realm of reality, but it is a movie after all. A good date movie, either in the theater or on the couch.

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