A LOT LIKE LOVE
Welcome the next generation of the Romantic comedy, apparently...
This new Ashton Kutcher starring vehicle is the same old romantic comedy tear-jerker that we have all seen before but with a face lift.
What struck me immediately about this film is the device / use of the "casual" flashback in text format. The movie starts out with a "Flashback" of sorts to 7 years ago (I believe) and as the movie progresses we progress forward to catch up with our two main protagonists` lives. A clever trick used in many films outside of the romantic comedy genre and here I suppose used to provide flair for an otherwise staid and true formula.
For all intents and purposes A LOT LIKE LOVE is the NEW GENERATION "chick flick" for lack of a better word. Is it original? No. Is it innovation? No. Is it likeable? Sure it is, yes. It is likeable because of the actors in the film and the performances which carry you throughout the movie.
Interestingly enough I found that the supporting characters were fairly interesting especially the character of Ashton Kutcher`s brother in the film who is deaf. I cannot recall, but this is one of the first times in a major film release that I have seen a main supporting character that has a physical handicap that isn`t focused on the "handicap" so kudos to the producers, screenwriter and the studio for putting that in. It was a very good touch.
Kal Penn makes an appearance in this film (which is why I am sure I along with many Indian Americans were invited to this particular press screening, so that we as a minority demographic chime in) as Ashton`s best friend. And to be honest I was a bit disappointed. Not by Kal Penn or his performance, Kal is a wonderful actor and in most films I have seen him in have had the pleasure of watching him grow as an actor. I was disappointed because he wasn`t in the film for too long, perhaps 15 minutes at most? And, well he just wasn`t that funny.
I know that I am not supposed to expect to see a "funny" Kal Penn in every movie that I see which has him in it, but don`t blame me blame the studios! Kal has been shopped around as the "comedic" supporting character in various films, from hilariously over-the-top "slapstick" ridiculousness of VAN WILDER to the druggy calm maturity of the ultimate slacker in HAROLD AND KUMAR GO TO WHITE CASTLE.
The point is Kal Penn in a move = funny, ridiculously funny. Yet in this movie the studious, almost sober Kal Penn in glasses is anything but. He has a joke here or there but other than that nothing that really stuck out for me. I was left wondering why was Kal in this movie again?
Interesting that I, as an Indian American would actually be clamouring to see more of "Kal`s" slapstick humor, but please don`t blame me the audience member, blame the studio that has created this celluloid wrapped fantasy of what Kal Penn in a big studio movie is projected onto me.
We need to pay our advertisers (just kidding) but here are some "short bits":
Ashton Kutcher is loveable, Amanda Peete shows us her maturity. Kal Penn is sober yet satisfying, and the movie overall is a "feel good" experiment in hell we go through to get the perfect relationship.
Overall the movie is a decent film, it isn`t the kind of movie that stayed with me hours after the film but it was likeable all the same. The only thing that bothers me a bit is all of these ASHTON KUTCHER movies hitting the theaters at the same time, A LOT LIKE LOVE plays right around the same time as GUESS WHO and all of a sudden its ASHTON overload! I can discern between the movies!
Harish Rao reporting on another ‘NON-MOVIE REVIEW"