Release Date: 23 June 2005

Synopsis :

It takes some people years to fall in love at first sight… A LOT LIKE LOVE is a romantic comedy about destiny, connection and the frequently fuzzy line between chance friendships and happily ever after. A LOT LIKE LOVE traces the relationship of Oliver (ASHTON KUTCHER) and Emily (AMANDA PEET) who meet on a flight from Los Angeles to New York seven years ago – each of them declaring that they couldn’t be more wrong for each other.

Life keeps bringing them back together over the next seven years, but the timing never seems right. As they struggle with their different partners, careers and breakups, they turn from casual acquaintances into trusted friends who can say anything to one another.

As they each search for love and a relationship that’s not fated for disaster, it takes seven years for Oliver and Emily to figure out that maybe what they really have is something…a lot like love.

Movie Review:

Good movies make you think and obsess over them; bad ones make you want to forget their horror as quickly as humanly possible. “A Lot Like Love” falls into neither category, for the simple reason that I couldn’t even seem to remember much of the movie right after seeing it, aside from the general boy-meets-girl storyline. What I do remember is that I found myself liking it, but perhaps it wasn’t so much of “liking it” than “not being perpetually annoyed or bored by it, as I expected to be”. I guess when one sets low expectations, one is more easily pleased.

The story is as old as time - boy meets girl, they become friends, neither is willing to take the initiative and therefore both begins dating other people, yet when one finally makes the first move, the other has already moved on. Guess what happens in the end?

The pair in question is the seemingly rebellious Emily (Amanda Peet) and Oliver (Ashton Kutcher), a rather likeable dork. I’m inclined to give Kutcher credit for being slightly endearing, although a different actor could probably have developed the role with more depth – the movie wants us to believe that they’re a mismatched pair, but it’s hard to feel aw-shucks about apparently geeky Oliver when he looks that much like a Calvin Klein model.

There is a nice dynamic between the two leads that provides a sound support for the wafer-thin plot, but there is only so much one can take of two people acting goofy around each other. The uninspired writing often has Emily and Oliver talking and acting like juveniles – their slightly awkward dialogue revolves around nothing and reveals nothing; their behaviours more like caricatures than actual people. Fortunately then, the movie is never cloying. It merely seems content with being witless and simplistic.

Perhaps the reason why I forgot the movie so quickly is that nothing much happens aside from Emily and Oliver prancing around and pining for each other. The movie has been likened to “When Harry Met Sally…”, a judgment which I believe to be rather ill-informed for a very simple reason. Harry and Sally were clearly friends first, before gradually falling in love in spite of themselves. There is a progression, a believable buildup and supporting characters that were more than one-dimensional. The ending is well earned and heartwarming, because the relationship feels genuine. What struck me most while watching “A Lot Like Love” was my complete indifference towards Emily and Oliver’s relationship, not because I didn’t find them compatible, but because I didn’t even realize they were supposed to be friends. There was little or no development in their so-called relationship, which made the ending anti-climactic; that their characters were flat made me all the less concerned about rooting for them. I did like them, yes, and they were occasionally amusing, what I’m saying is that there is an unfortunate lack of passion and anticipation in “A Lot Like Love” that made it largely forgettable. It’s a romantic comedy that’s neither very romantic nor very funny.

That said, at the end of the day, it’s just a movie, not rocket science. For two hours, I was sufficiently occupied if less engaged than I would have liked. Likable but unimpressive, artless but not crude, it’s one of those movies that’s neither here nor there, but mostly nice and harmless. Watch it and judge for yourselves, but don’t say we didn’t warn you.

Movie Rating: C+

Review by Angeline Chui


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