Shut up, I enjoy it...
Must Love Dogs is cliched, predictable, gossamer thin, and guilty of using the background of the final scene to reassure us that every plot line wrapped up neatly and happily.Wait, strike that though. Let me restate it a little more simply and succinctly.
Must Love Dogs is a romantic comedy.
It is truly representative and archetypical of the genre. We meet the two destined-to-be-lovebirds in the first couple of scenes - seperately. Both are heartbroken and not quite ready to date again. Their friends and family - in great movie form - meddle and force them to "get back in the game". A montage or two of failed first dates ensues, and our couple finally meet. But things don't go well. There are sparks, but they're nervous. They fumble and part.
A rival appears. He seems like a great guy, but he doesn't quite mope or talk the way our hero does, so he must not be the right guy. So our leads try again. Sparks fly again, showing us a "real connection" but fate intervenes not quite letting the date get consumated.
They fumble and part again, thinking that things have ended between them. Each - more hurt now than before - blindly wanders intomeaningless dating until they happen together another time and finally realize the wrong headings on which they've placed themselves. Fluff is forgone for the sake of a cute climax followed by a teasing ending that begins to suggest that perhaps things didn't work out - until Mr. Right steps out from behind the grocery shelves, letting us know that it all worked out.
I am, for some reason, reminded of "Title of the Song" by Da Vinci's Notebook. (Be warned: cute but frivolous. Funny for a few times but ultimately unsatisying.)
If it weren't for the wonderfully charismatic leads, the movie would have been naught more than a formulaic pastiche. Instead, the casting of Diane Lane and John Cusack (who - according to imdb - rewrote much of the dialogue to match his speech, and it fits him very well) raise the movie above that into the realm of "nice way to spend a couple of hours". The supporting cast - Durmot Mulroney, Christopher Plummer, Elizabeth Perkins, Stockard Channing, and a few more whose names I didn't recognize - also help in raising the level, proving that a rising tide lifts all boats.
It's not a classic. It's not even the best romantic comedy of the past few years, but it's enjoyable.
At least it was the first time through.
Elektra, on the other hand, is a disaster.Jennifer Garner finds herself doing little more than cashing a paycheck in this train wreck of a tale of a recently deceased assassin who loses her taste for her profession when she is hired to kill a good man and his likeable daughter - who's supposed to save the world - or something, the movie never quite explains what some old prophecy said about the girl, but we know she's supposed to be important.
The movie is shot in music video style, showing some neat visuals but with no consideration for how those visuals should flow one to the other. We see Elektra in a fight with a dozen white sheets suspended in the air around her. She slices through the sheets on her way to the bad guy, but the fight is ultimately as unsatisfying as is the rest of the movie...but it's got a few pretty pictures.
The bad guys aren't terribly terrifying. The good guys aren't all that inspiring - though the blind one does spout some pretty vague ideas that are supposed to pass for Zen wisdom - or something, I guess.
I continue to do my due dillegence in working through various comic book movies, and this on was made less painful by the presence of my ever-handy laptop and internet connection to distract me.
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