Like, not a lot to love
A lot like love
Ashton Kutcher, Amanda Peet

Synopsis: Two people meet on a cross-country flight and spend a day together. Over the next seven years they continue to bump into each other, but neither is willing to take the next step that will bring them together.

PTE John Wellfare - one lost

Rating: 1

THERE are some love stories for the ages, some for light entertainment and some that are just stopping by on their way to the shops for bread and milk. A Lot Like Love is the third, and worst, kind.

Don’t get me wrong, it has its moments, but just when you think it’s more mature than Ashton Kutcher’s usual guff, there’s the all-important walking into a glass door or sticking straws up the nose scene to remind audiences where they are. One could liken this to When Harry Met Sally, except that it’s not plausible in the least and feels as though the story may possibly have been thought up gradually as the filming progressed.

Garden State showed us that a light, simple love story could be quite entertaining when held together with talented actors and good cinematography. A Lot Like Love’s producers, on the other hand, rely on Kutcher – who will surely soon be too old for teen movies – to draw in the crowd and believe said crowd will happily fork out $13.50 for two hours of cinematic chewing gum. Do yourself a favour, don’t be one of their chumps.

If you go to this movie on a first date and the person next to you starts to nod knowingly, make a feeble excuse and get out quickly.

LT Simone Heyer - Share it around

Rating: 3

ALOT Like Love looked like a teen-flick – it wasn’t and it was a pleasant surprise. It did have a few teen-flick tendancies that I think brought down the otherwise adult tone.

Oliver (Kutcher) and Emily (Peet) get it on in an airplane toilet – the naive Oliver is instantly smitten and the love-hardened Em plays it down. Oliver’s not ready for a relationship and Emily says he’s not her type anyway.

This game goes on for the next few years, both relying on each other to get over someone else. It doesn’t really click for either of them that they might actually be quite well-suited. Until the end – of course.

It could be a case of fear of commitment, or maybe they weren’t into each other enough to realise sooner. Distance shouldn’t prevent a relationship from growing – it only makes the heart fonder.

You should only relate to this movie if you’re a bit of a fly-by-nighter. Guys won’t appreciate its sentiments and may get the wrong idea if you laugh in the wrong spots.

I expected a better-quality film from British director Nigel Cole, responsible for the not-at-all teen-flicky Calendar Girls. Calendar Girls had a genuine, non-pretentious quality of which there is no trace in A Lot Like Love. It’s fine if you’re looking for a no brainer and is a sweet concept – love wins in the end