Starring:
Amanda Peet as Emily Friehl
Ashton Kutcher as Oliver Martin
Taryn Manning as Ellen Martin
Amiee Garcia as Nicole
Gabriel Mann as Peter
Kathryn Hahn as Michelle
Ali Larter as Gina
Jeremy Sisto as Ben Miller
Kal Penn as Jeeter
Special Features:
Never-before-seen deleted scenes
Blooper reel
Audio commentary from the director and producer
Music video from Aqualung
Other Info:
Widescreen (1.85:1)
Dolby Digital 5.1 Surround Sound
French and Spanish Language
French and Spanish Subtitles
Running Time: 107 Minutes
Synopsis:
The following is from the DVD cover:
“In the spirit of When Harry Met Sally comes A Lot Like Love, the romantic comedy about destiny and the possibilities of a chance encounter evolving into a close encounter of the happily-ever-after kind. Ashton Kutcher (Guess Who) and Amanda Peet (Something’s Gotta Give) set off sparks as opposites who attract and have a one-flight stand from LA to New York. When the trip’s over, they are too — and both move on but can’t really let go. As they search for love that doesn’t end in disaster, they keep finding each other. And while the chemistry that first brought them together keeps generating heat, the timing is always wrong. This funny and disarming story of modern romance will have you falling in love over and over again.”
A Lot Like Love is rated PG-13 for sexual content, nudity, and language.
The Movie:
A Lot Like Love is really just an average romantic comedy. It offers up a few laughs, but nothing you’ll remember long after viewing the film. The main characters are charming, but there’s nothing about them that makes them stand out. The story makes you somewhat interested in what happens to the characters, but it’s also utterly predictable. In short, I wouldn’t call this a “must see” film like the quote on the cover says, but there are a lot worse movies out there.
This film belongs entirely to Amanda Peet and Ashton Kutcher. The two have decent chemistry together, but when they are separate there’s not that much appealing about them. Amanda Peet plays Emily Friehl. Her character goes through various stages in the film, but none of them make me understand why Oliver would fall for her. In the first stage she’s basically a depressed punk rocker who has sex with him in an airplane bathroom. (OK, maybe that’s the appeal.) Later on when they meet again years later, she’s depressed because of her recent breakup. Every time we see her she seems to be at her most screwed up state. Meanwhile, Ashton Kutcher plays Oliver Martin, an optimistic and stuffy entrepreneur who has his whole life planned out yet constantly finds it going off track. There’s very little appealing about him. Only when Oliver and Emily get together do things get interesting, and even then it’s a rare occasion. They only meet four times in the movie. To top it off most of the time they act like junior high kids when they do find the time to meet every few years. Fun on a date consists of showing chewed up food to each other, food fights, playing with a camera, and getting naked in the desert. This is a foundation for their love?
A Lot Like Love does offer a few good laughs. They make well deserved fun of the dot com bubble bursting. There are also some good brother / sister fights between Oliver and his little sister. The soundtrack is also good. It’s a mix of a lot of different songs from the last 10 years or so including Third Eye Blind, Smash Mouth, Chicago, Aqualung, and more.
The Extras:
There is a small batch of standard extras included on this DVD:
Never-before-seen deleted scenes There are five deleted scenes included on this DVD. One shows Emily getting a tattoo with her ex-boyfriend’s name removed as Oliver watches on and comments. Another scene shows Oliver’s ex-girlfriend trying to reconcile with him over the phone. The rest of the deleted scene show more heart to heart talks between Emily and Oliver, one of the longest being from the end of the movie. They were most likely removed for the sake of time.
Blooper reel This is your standard blooper reel with flubbed lines, funny faces, and accidents on the sets. It also features multiple takes of Amanda Peet running into a plate glass window.
Audio commentary from the director and producer It’s unfortunate that Peet and Kutcher don’t take part in the commentary. But director Nigel Cole, and producers Armyan Bernstein and Kevin Messick still manage to deliver a lively commentary filled with jokes, anecdotes about filming, and more.
Music video from Aqualung This is your standard movie music video featuring clips from the film along with shots of the lead singer crooning the song.
The Bottom Line:
I would say that A Lot Like Love isn’t a movie you should go out of your way to see, but it wouldn’t kill you to view it either. It’s just mediocre. Fans of Amanda Peet and Ashton Kutcher will probably enjoy it a lot more than other audiences.
