I lent a DVD to my son last night, one I find funny, and we'll see if he agrees. "Must Love Dogs" is one of those guilty pleasures, a sendup of online dating and the anxious world of finding love. It stars Diane Lane as a divorced woman who is a preschool teacher, so she never is around possible dates, and her large family decides it's time for her to get back in the game. Lane is very natural and funny here, though I'm not normally a fan. Her two sisters and brother keep trying to set her up and putting her profile on dating sites. Her father, played by Christopher Plummer, is a widower also looking for companionship, and one of his dates is Stockard Channing, here with a rare plum role (little pun intended). Lane and John Cusack meet cute in a dog park with borrowed dogs, and then misunderstand each other. Lane desperately goes on a bunch of dates from hell that are hilarious, and Cusack tries dating a bimbo. They are miserable. Lane beccomes attracted to a "separated" father played by Dermot Mulroney, the ultimate cad.
This film is worth watching for one scene alone: Lane meeting her date at a cafe and looking for a man with a yellow rose. As she nears, she discovers it is her own father, and when she tries to laugh it off and sit down to eat, he shoos her away as he has another date soon. Trust me, it's very funny.
Cusack and Lane have believable chemistry, even if Cusack's character seems to have no source of income and a loft that is ultra expensive. Welcome to movie world. He builds beautiful wooden boats nobody buys. At least Lane's house you can figure was given her during the divorce, because as a preschool teacher she could hardly pay for a cardboard hut in an alley. Maybe she owns the preschool. It's a mystery. These two are obviously made for each other, because they live in a place where money is not necessary.
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