Must Love Dogs was one of the DVDs that I received for Christmas. It looked like one of those typical romantic comedies that would pass a couple of hours in a mildly enjoyable way. We settled down to watch it vwith these sort of expectations but I soon discovered just how wrong I was. This is a wonderful film and I can't understand why it is not as acclaimed as some other similar films.
At the start of the film we meet newly divorced Sarah. All of her family are desperate for her to find the new love of her life but she's just not interested. We then switch to Jake, also newly divorced, and his best friend is also very anxious to see him set ip too. At this point you sense a certain predictability about this film but believe me, it's not as straight forward as all that!
As the film progresses, Sarah's sister decides to sign her up to an internet dating site. She makes up a profile for her sister including the fact that any likely love contender 'must love dogs!' This leads to a lot of hilarity in the film as Sarah meets a number of very unlikely suitors, including the man who only wants to talk about himself and the one that can't help sobbing into his soup throughout their date. One of the funniest moments that had both me and my husband laughing out loud was the moment when one of her dates turns out to be her own father! This was a moment of pure comedy.
As you would expect, one of Sarah's dates is Jake and there does seem to be an instant chemistry between the two of them. Things are complicated though by the fact that there is a single father at the pre school where she works that Sarah is also attracted to. Usually when there is a love triangle like this in a film, you find yourself rooting for the good guy, but in this case they both seemed equally attractive and I couldn't decide who I wanted her to get together with. Of course, in typical rom com tradition, there are lots of complications along the way before we find out who is the man for Sarah - if indeed either of them are! And of course, I'm not going to tell you am I?
This is a hugely entertaining film that vastly exceeded my expectations. I found myself smiling and laughing from beginning to end and with a running time of only 98 minutes it just isn't long enough. There are some very funny moments in the film like when Sarah and one of her dates (won't say which one) are manically driving all over town in an attempt to find a drug store that is open, becuse they do not have one very necessary item! There are also some very poignant moments too, especially when Sarah reflects on the breakdown of her marriage. When she states so sadly that 'he just stopped loving me' she nearly had me reaching for the tissues.
I thought the film was superbly cast with Diane Lane and John Cusack in the lead roles. Christopher Plummer was excellent as Sarah's father and he had quite a few comical moments himself as he was also advertising in the lonely hearts column. One of his lady friends was Dolly who was played by Stockard Channing. You will probably remember that she played Rizzo in Grease many years ago and this is another feisty, if somewaht older, part. All the other parts contributed to the story and all worked together extremely well. There are also some incredibly cute children at the pre school as well as a loveable big dog who probably steals the film!
There are some films that you know that you are only going to want to watch once, but not this one! I can imagine many an evening when I will be putting this non the DVD again just to get that feel good factor! I thoroughly recommend it!
There are not too many DVD extras to speak of. There are some additional scenes and a very good theatrical trailer which is very good to watch.
The film has a 12 rating because it contains some moderate sexul references. It can be bought on Amazon at the moment for only £4.98 - that's a bargain!
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Comedy - Director: Tony Dow - Original Language: English - Classification: 12 years and over - Starring: John Challis, David Jason, Nicholas Lyndhurst, Tessa Peake-Jones, Gwyneth Strong
Comedy - Original Language: English - Classification: 12 years and over - Starring: Tessa Peake-Jones, Buster Merryfield, David Jason, Nicholas Lyndhurst
Comedy - Director: Richard Boden, Mandie Fletcher, Martin Shardlow - Original Language: English - Classification: 15 years and over - Starring: Hugh Laurie, Miranda Richardson, Stephen Fry, Brian Blessed, Tim McInnerny, Tony Robinson, Rowan Atkinson
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