I know better but...

Rating: 5/10 (22 December 2008)

Well, this movie has a lot going against it  the dialogue isn't all that realistic, the friends' interaction has the same artificiality, the plot is a little too cute. And when you throw in a slighty paunchy Harry Connick Jr, who has a 'syndrome' that makes him just a little bit obnoxious as he woos the widow Hilary, you really have a formula for a dreadful little film. And I don't know what it is with Scottish (or many other) actors who affect an Irish accent  most of the time they come off sounding like the 'lucky charms' leprechaun, but I guess most Americans do too, so I can't really hold that against anyone.
Some scenes are painful, and forced  most notably the Lisa Kudrow scenes as she 'auditions' men she meets at social events, the drunk scenes with Hilary, and the bedroom chatter of the two main actors. And why they have Hilary walking on the Yankee dugout towards the end of the film, while Harry reads to her at the end is simply so contrived I could hardly pay much attention to what Harry was saying.
But I like Hilary Swank, who at least has a film where she is a bit more feminine than we've seen her recently. And I like Gerard Butler and Gina Gershon, and most of the others  esp Jeffrey Dean Morgan as the man Hilary meets while visiting Ireland, who actually does sound Irish, although I'm told he was raised in Seattle. And there is one really effective plot surprise as well.
And I like some of the lines, and some of the scenes, and all of the Irish countryside, and Kathy Bates, who plays Hilary's mother who urges her daughter to move on with life, and and andso despite knowing better, I did enjoy this film. But it's really not all that good. But it sure is likable; even Harry is most of the time.