Have I ever mentioned I love John Cusack? He's not conventionally handsome and isn't the kind of guy who hits you right away as attractive. But there's something about him that grows on you.
He and Diane Lane were precisely the reason why I chose to watch Must Love Dogs on the plane. I think Diane Lane is gorgeous. She's so elegant!
While the film is nothing ground-breaking in its storyline, the two leads make it watchable. Both are believable in their roles as recently divorced beings trying to find love again. They meet by chance when Jake's friend answers to Sarah's personal ad which had been put up for her by her sister. Both are then forced to go on the date by their well-meaning friend and sister respectively.
You feel for Lane's character, Sarah, when she feels jitters as she puts herself back into the dating scene. Cusack's character, Jake, is a jaded being when it comes to relationships. Both characters have had their hearts broken by their ex-spouses. Sarah's cautiousness is juxtaposed with Jake's intensity and both characters are a delight to watch.
And I just love Cusack's character Jake Anderson. He makes wooden scull boats by hand! Someone dedicated to the traditional craft of making wooden boats instead of the more popular and faster fibre glass ones. He offers to take Sarah on his boat and to teach her how to scull. And I'm like "teach me! teach me!" Well actually, I've learnt it before. But I don't really like it 'cos I don't like going backwards and I just can't seem to master that rowing technique which is very different from canoeing, dragonboating and outrigger canoeing. All very different strokes!
The film is like an updated version of You've Got Mail but a better one without the irritating Miss-Act-Cute-Even-Though-You're-Not Meg Ryan.
Posted by DSD at November 5, 2005 1:37 AM