a little warning: NOT a romantic comedy, NOT a chick flick (not typical at least)

Rating: Null/10 (29 January 2008)

I did really like this movie, but I'm not going to write all about which elements I liked and which I didn't, because they've been covered before, and by more than one poster usually :-).
However, in light of the many posters calling this a Romantic Comedy, a chick flick, or describing it using words such as 'lighthearted', 'entertaining' or 'hilarious', I wanted to reiterate that it is NONE OF THOSE THINGS.
To expand: yes, there are romantic elements and scenes, there is amusing banter--flirtatious and between friends--and there are a couple of funny scenes. But for your sake, as well as to be in a position to do this movie justice by watching it when you ACTUALLY feel like watching this kind of thing, don't expect:
-to laugh-out-loud like you might have in Bridget Jones' Diary in the 'getting ready for the date/party' scenes, or any makeover scene in any comedy of the past 15 years or so :-) . Here you get more of a chuckle, along the lines of what is sometimes called, in plot analysis, 'comic relief'--a little giggle to stop you loosen the lump in your throat.
-Sleepless In Seattle/You've Got Mail style romance--this is more substantial stuff, more of the Titanic brand of romance (only without the epic element--it's just late and I can't get a better example :-))
-any situation comedy like the karaoke in My Best Friend's Wedding
-any characters that are only there to make us laugh
-a 'lighthearted' movie means you don't seriously care much what happens to the characters. you mainly care what happens with the plot. Here, the plot is character-driven: you care about what happens to the characters.
One last thing: no, this is not a movie to bring your pre-teen, even if they are mature-- certainly not without making sure they know they're gonna see a sad movie. Not because you see a bloke's rear end for all of two seconds some time in the movie, but because the themes this movie deals with are adult themes dealt with in an adult manner (for adult, read emotionally complex). A younger kid would just feel the sadness in it without having the benefit of knowing how to handle those feelings. Fair warning!
All in all though, this is a good movie; I only object to it being classed as a RomCom, because it makes people go in with the wrong sorts of expectations (and probably keeps away people who would have liked it, because they generally don't enjoy RomComs). I think a more useful label would be what Hillary Swank (I believe) described it as: a dramedy. I mean, she should know, since she stars in it, right?!