“A Lot Like Love” (Touchstone Pictures)
Every year or so someone tries to make a movie that recaptures the magic of “When Harry Met Sally” and sadly few even come close. Ashton Kutcher and Amanda Peet star in the latest effort called “A Lot Like Love.” It doesn’t get anywhere near the fun and romance of “Sally.” But then it doesn’t even get anywhere near the fun and romance of Kutcher’s other flop “My Boss’s Daughter.”
The movie takes place over a seven-year period and starts when Oliver (Kutcher) meets Emily (Peet) on a cross-country flight. She follows him into the plane’s lavatory for a little mile high sex but then says good-bye when the flight lands. There is an attraction but she is just getting over a romance and he is still living in his parents’ home.
The plot follows them through several meetings over the next few years. It is always just a get together for sex and catching up, until one of them starts feeling seriously about the other. At that time the timing is wrong and they are involved with someone else. The question becomes whether or not they will ever notice they are the perfect mates for each other. By the time it occurs nobody really cares.
Kutcher’s Oliver stays just the same for the entire seven-year period. He doesn’t seem to age and he certainly doesn’t seem to mature. He is a goofy guy from beginning to end. If Kutcher is trying to get away from his “70’s Show” roots, he didn’t go far enough.
Peet does at least change her look over the seven years, and her character does mature in some ways. Still the audience has a hard time rooting for Emily as she is not a very likeable person. But then neither is Ollie so they are both in the same boat.
There is a lack of romance and very little comedy in this romantic comedy. Mainly it is just repetition of its will they or won’t they theme. The first half of the movie seems to go on forever and the second half is almost as bad. You find yourself bored with these people and bored with their story.
The movie is rated PG-13 for profanity and sexual situations.
Ashton Kutcher and Amanda Peet have zero chemistry between them, and their stories in this film are less than wildly entertaining. Harry and Sally wouldn’t have had these two as acquaintances, much less lovers. “A Lot Like Love” turns out to be “a lot like – boredom.”
I scored “A Lot Like Love” a similar 4 out of 10.
