Writer-director Gary David Goldberg's sweet-natured romantic comedy, based on Claire Cook's fluffy chick lit novel, is a pleasant 90-minute escape from dog-eat-dog reality, but its predictable plot guarantees that it will begin to fade from memory as soon as you leave the theater. Preschool teacher Sarah Nolan (Diane Lane) is divorced, but not for long if her big, well-meaning family has anything to say about it. After an all hands on deck family meeting, Sarah's sisters Carol (Elizabeth Perkins) and Christine (Ali Hillis) head up the quest to see her resettled with a worthy man and deluge her with their single acquaintances' photos and business cards. Carol even goes so far as to put Sarah's profile up on a dating website, including the requirement that respondents must love dogs. Sarah reluctantly goes along, though it's more than a little discouraging when one blind date turns out to be with her own widowed father (Christopher Plummer). After a string of bad dates, Sarah meets odd but strangely charming Jake Anderson (John Cusack) at the dog park; like Sarah, Jake is divorced and has been nudged into the dating arena (a well-meaning friend responded to Sarah's ad on Jake's behalf), and each is armed with a borrowed dog since neither actually has an animal companion. Jake manages to insult Sarah repeatedly and inadvertently, but there's something about his honesty and intensity that intrigues her anyway; he's off-putting, but there's also something attractive about him. Sarah allows herself to be convinced to try a second time, but complications inevitably ensue: She discovers that hunky and charismatic doctoral candidate Bob Connor (Dermot Mulroney), the father of one of her students, is newly (and suddenly) separated and is hot for teacher. This good-natured film sticks close to the genre's basic message: True love will find a way and everybody will live happily after, but there will be some bumps along the road. Cusack is as utterly endearing as ever — he can do puppy-dog eyes and laid-back cool in his sleep — while Lane is witty, approachable and brings a touch of extra life to a standard-issue character; they make a captivating couple. The supporting cast — including Plummer and his gaggle of gal pals (foremost among them the delightful Stockard Channing) — round out the film, though the ease with which the adorable canines steal scenes brings W.C. Fields' warning about not working with children or animals to mind. But the film makes no real impression; it's amiable, occasionally funny and indistinguishable from dozens of other romantic comedies just like it. --Angel Cohn
