Must Love Dogs

Rating: B

Must Love Dogs is a interesting look into the world of lonely people and internet dating. It shows what some people will go through just to avoid being alone. Diane Lane plays Sarah, a middle-age divorcee pre-school teacher who would rather stay home in her Pj's and feel sorry for herself than try dating again. I almost forget that Lane is actually married in real life since she plays these types of characters so well, which is good for me since I have a huge crush on her. Lane's nosey family lead by a frumpy Elizabeth Perkins interveens to help Sarah find Mr. Right. Perkins loads Sarah's information on an internet dating site and hilarity insues. Sarah meets the hot guy (Dermot Mulroney), a father of one of her students. And of course she meets John Cusack's Jake, a wooden boat builder with an affinity for Dr. Zhivago. Which one will she end up with? You can probably guess, as I'm sure everyone in the audience will. There are many funny parts most of which have to do with Sarah's family. Christopher Plummer is wonderful as Sarah's gigalo-like Irish father. Stockard Channing steals most scenes as Sarah's father's trailer park honey.

This is a true chick flick. Guys, your date will like it, and you will be rewarded. I am somewhat of a romantic kind of guy and live for these types of movies. Some cheesyness appears, but what do you expect? Even at 1 hour and 38 minutes, there still were some parts that could have sped up a little. Overall, not too bad.