Professional and assured romedy made a few bad choices..

Rating: 6/10 (5 March 2007)

Semi-excellent emulation of a modern romantic comedy at times but still takes huge leaps away from the intuitive joy that makes up the majority of this crowd pleaser. As one of Hollywood's few female mainstream forces, Nancy Meyers immediately reiterates why she is an intelligent enough writer and director to justify many clichés her feel-good material thrives off of. Nothing here is trying to reinvent the wheel, or reinvent the corny, sappy contrived nature of these films for that matter, but Meyers and her acting entourage get enough mileage out of the mediocre script by the sheer amount of warmth emitted from chief cast members. Heck, even the overcooked score still manages to evoke emotion where one would feel manipulation in less apt hands.
Unfortunately, the cute and intimate performances that provide this popcorn muncher's adorable heart also serve to backfire on the film's small but significant redeeming qualities of emotional substance. For the most part the surprisingly engaging performances overwhelm a majority of fluff provided throughout the predictable outing, with an appreciated amount of detail paid to so many effective nuances, equal parts comedic and dramatic, during the interlocked romantic stories. The women sure do steal the show here though, I guess they all knew who would be watching it. Kate Winslet continues her emotional dominance, unparalleled even when in cinema's most trite of circumstances. Her attempts at more overt humor may pale in comparison to the heart-sweltering realism her dramatic chops bring to even the dullest of lines, but remains enjoyable enough. Surprisingly, Cameron Diaz gives one of her best performances to date, helping to justify her overrated stature with substantial proof of a masterful caricature, complete with an array of subtlety to boot. It is her powerful chemistry between an appropriate Jude Law that will keep the chicks coming back to this flick, sustaining the somewhat corny affair with an inspired Hollywood love affair.
Which brings me to the backfiring part. Unfortunately the movie only works half as effectively as it wanted to due to the terrible casting, or acting of Jack Black. I really admire the guy but he obviously has quite a ways to go before conquering the romantic genre, even if it is comedy-based, in which his character resembles an infinitely dorkier version of himself (the only person Black has really mastered playing). Black shines when he is involved with a project near and dear to his offbeat heart, but here he feels awkwardly out of place, and in a very unintentional way. In effect nearly half of the movie's dramatic heft is severed by his inane take, even worse canceling out some of Winslet's moving work (thank goodness for Rufus Sewell adding some romantic dimension to her story), a character misread that seriously undermined the integrity of this light but tight direction.