Elizabethtown has all of the elements of a great Cameron Crowe movie, but none of the Cameron Crowe vision that made Almost Famous work. It's mostly a series of sweet moments, each capped with the right song at the right time; in fact, the soundtrack is the real star of the movie, and the right song is all there is to piece together a film that is much less than the sum of its parts. From the start of Elizabethtown, big contrasts are evoked: death and life, success and failure are side by side, so we're told. When the movie starts, Drew Baylor (Orlando Bloom) is experiencing failure and death in spades: the shoe he spent eight years designing for Mercury (a thinly-veiled copy of Nike) has been recalled, costing his company $972 million dollars. On the verge of a suicide attempt, he learns his father has died, and Drew flies to Kentucky to retrieve the body to Oregon for cremation. On the red-eye to Louisville he meets Claire Colburn (Kirsten Dunst), a perky flight attendant with a charming flair for cute lines ("I'm impossible to forget, but I'm hard to remember," she chirps). Once in Elizabethtown, Drew tries to plan a memorial while dealing with relatives who have their own agenda in addition to his manic family back in Oregon, all while facing the reality that in a few days he'll be known nationally as one of his industry's most legendary failures. Yet still he manages to connect with Claire on an all-night cell phone conversation-complete with the requisite watching of the sunrise-and to strike up a furtive romance. So we now have death and life side by side. But despite these dramatic shifts, what sets up to be a roller coaster ride of a film flattens out to a milquetoast middle ground with no real life of its own. [+]

Opposites are forced to attract in Along Came Polly. Ben Stiller is a newlywed insurance risk-assessment analyst whose wife (Debra Messing, in a throwaway role) betrays him on their honeymoon. His uptight, play-it-safe lifestyle (which includes acute aversion to germs and irritable bowel syndrome) makes him seemingly incompatible with the spontaneous, free-spirited Polly (Jennifer Aniston), but writer-director John Hamburg (whose writing credits include the previous Stiller hits Meet the Parents and Zoolander) is determined to give them at least the appearance of romantic potential. No such luck. You will, however, get a few laughs from supporting players Philip Seymour Hoffman, Bryan Brown, and Alec Baldwin. The film is a dose of featherweight fluff that could've been better and could've been worse-surely no pairing of Stiller and Aniston can be a complete waste of time, right? Faint praise, perhaps, but fans of these mainstream funny-folk will enjoy this movie as a lazy weekend distraction. -Jeff Shannon.

Comedy reigns throughout License To Wed thanks to Robin Williams, his choir-boy assistant Josh Flitter (Nancy Drew) and the rest of the cast. Laughing out loud is definitely a course requirement for viewers, but underneath the hilarity is a serious message about making marriage work. -Tami Horiuchi.

An unpretentious Brit-flick distinguished by a great cast, This Year's Love is writer-director David Kane's wry, funny study of six singletons in search of something-possibly love, possibly just sex-that will help them make sense of an untidy world. Aside from the acting, the film's strongest feature is its unflinching realism. The setting is North London's Camden Lock, an area that is in equal parts ultra-trendy and horrendously squalid. The characters reflect the locale: a circle of youthful drop-outs, wannabes and never-have-beens united in their common desire to surmount loneliness and find that elusive "perfect match". The central figures are newlyweds Danny and Hannah (the wonderful Douglas Henshall and Catherine McCormack) and the film in essence concerns itself with the fallout from the spectacular and rapid disintegration of their marriage. Danny first hooks up with cleaner-cum-nightclub singer Mary (a marvellously self-deprecating Kathy Burke), while Hannah finds lecherous womaniser Cameron (an unwashed Dougray Scott). Cameron's flatmate Liam (Ian Hart) fails to impress posh single mum Sophie (Jennifer Ehle in dreadlocks), who goes on to reject Danny and Cameron in turn, while Liam becomes dangerously obsessed by Hannah then Mary. So the merry-go-round of relationship swapping, unlikely coincidences and bittersweet life-lessons turns full circle. David Kane's comic dialogue is witheringly sharp, the situations (aside from all the coincidental meetings) are well-observed and the characters sympathetically three-dimensional (helped in no small part by the quality of the ensemble cast). The frequently hilarious comedy is tempered by an underlying despair: if it's not exactly Brassed Off or The Full Monty for neurotic, self-obsessed metropolitans, it's a film that's at least happy to exist in the same genre and achieves the same poignant empathy with its characters. [+]

The combined star power of Vince Vaughn (Wedding Crashers, Swingers) and Jennifer Aniston (Bruce Almighty, The Good Girl) makes The Break-Up a high-profile romantic comedy. Gary (Vaughn) and Brooke (Aniston) find that their brittle relationship may have reached the breaking point-but neither is willing to give up the condo they co-own. As their fighting grows increasingly bitter, neither is sure if they're fighting to get out of the relationship or to save it. The Break-Up is an odd combination of realistic scenes that capture the harsh yet human ways that lovers can hurt each other, and broad comic scenes with a more farcical edge. Both types of scenes are entertaining on their own terms-the movie is never boring-but they don't fully mesh, and as a result it's hard to engage emotionally with either Gary or Brooke. But the sterling supporting cast-including Jon Favreau (Wimbledon), Cole Hauser (The Cave), Joey Lauren Adams (Chasing Amy), John Michael Higgins (A Mighty Wind), Justin Long (Dodgeball), Jason Bateman (Arrested Development), Vincent D'Onofrio (Happy Accidents), and the ever-delirious Judy Davis (Husbands and Wives)-give every scene they're in a boost of comic energy. An uneven but enjoyable movie that may suffer from viewers having overly high expectations due to Vaughn and Aniston's celebrity. -Bret Fetzer.

Ice Cube has turned his frown upside down with the family-friendly screwball road movie Are We There Yet? We know the actor/rapper can use his trademark scowl to be funny (the Friday and Barbershop series), or to be mean (Boyz n the Hood)-but can he use it to melt kids' hearts? That's the question Are We There Yet? answers with a resounding yes for youngsters in the audience (which will be the lions' share), but it'll probably be an emphatic shrug for the grownups. The contrived plot has Cube playing a wannabe-player (as in ladies' man) and ex-player (as in washed-up minor league baseball star) who now owns a sports memorabilia business. His partner, (Jay Mohr) is just a throwaway, as is the talented Nia Long, the single mom that Cube sets his blinged-out sights on. To try get in her good graces, he offers to transport her two bratty kids in his pride-and-joy Lincoln Navigator for a joy ride to a distant city where she's attending an emergency business meeting so they can have a New Year's Eve celebration together. This kiddies' version of Road Trip and Planes, Trains and Automobiles has its cute moments, but plenty more gross-out moments which will please the kids to no end, especially as the Navigator gets more and more trashed. Suffice it to say they all learn about each others' good sides and hearts are suitably melted all around-until after the credits roll, then you'll probably forget about the whole thing. -Ted Fry, Amazon. com.

There is something so utterly captivating about this Bill Forsyth film-whether it's the quaintly authentic Scottish accents (they had to be softened for its US release) or the wholly universal story of young love. But what really gives Gregory's Girl its evergreen appeal is the enchanting performance of young Gordon John Sinclair as the eponymous gangly lead. With his shock of red hair, he's all arms and legs-and inexperience. Gregory becomes infatuated with Dorothy (a lovely Dee Hepburn), who proves a heartier and better athlete than he is. Gregory's so clueless, he relies on advice from his wee sister. The story may be familiar, but Forsyth's astute and affectionate rendering gives the film its momentum (the film won best screenplay at the British Academy Awards). If American viewers at first struggle to understand the well-written banter, it is worth the effort because there's charm in nearly every line. It's curious that both Sinclair and Hepburn, seemingly poised on the brink of stardom here, either chose not to take advantage of the possible opportunity or weren't ever offered roles as wonderful as these. (Sinclair had a small role in Forsyth's Local Hero and starred in 1986's The Girl in the Picture and other small films. Hepburn appears to have worked only once post-Gregory, a brief stint in the British series Crossroads. [+]

A sleek George Clooney and a seductive Catherine Zeta-Jones square off magnificently in the divorce comedy Intolerable Cruelty. The plot is simple: lawyer supreme Miles Massey (Clooney) skilfully outmanoeuvres gold-digger Marylin Rexroth (Zeta-Jones) when she divorces her wealthy husband-and she sets out to get revenge. But this movie comes from the creative minds of the Coen Brothers (Fargo, O Brother Where Art Thou?), and so Intolerable Cruelty includes a Scottish wedding chapel in Vegas, an asthmatic hit man, fluffy-dog-stroking European nobility, and a legendarily unbreakable pre-nuptial agreement. Still, it's pretty restrained for the Coens; smooth and consistent, it never stumbles as disappointingly as their movies can, but also never quite hits the operatic pitch of their best work. It's still damn funny, though, with top-notch performances from the leads as well as Geoffrey Rush, Cedric the Entertainer and Billy Bob Thornton. -Bret Fetzer.

As she does in The Truth About Cats and Dogs, Janeane Garofalo proves she's a capable leading lady-beautiful, charming, self-effacing, and what used to be referred to as sharp as a tack. Garofalo plays Marcy, aide to dim Massachusetts senator McGlory (Jay O. Sanders). Denis Leary is appropriately slimy as a fellow aide. The senator and Nick dispatch Marcy to the remote (and fictitious) Irish town of Ballinagra, where she's supposed to unearth relatives to use in the senator's PR campaign. Along the way, Marcy not only encounters the eccentric locals, but finds herself in the maelstrom of the town's annual matchmaking festival. The single Marcy inadvertently catches the eye of the movie's eponymous matchmaker Dermot (a captivating Milo O'Shea). Dermot senses sparks between Marcy and the equally cynical, recently returned local boy, Sean (David O'Hara), once a successful journalist who's returned home to work on a book. The intimacies of the small town, the relationships between the locals, and the dialogue are credible and engaging. Look for beautiful cinematography and music, too. [+]

Writer/Director Cameron Crowe's affable twentysomething romantic comedy is less a tale of tortured love than a prescient portrait of a culture on the cusp of Generation X-that is Seattle, circa 1991. One-time Rolling Stone journalist Crowe, ever aware of pop trends, lovingly details a society newly beguiled by slackers, answerphones, self-analysis, the coffee-house fetish, post-AIDS safe sex and, most importantly, grunge music-Smashing Pumpkins, Mudhoney and Jane's Addiction pepper the soundtrack, while various Pearl Jam players cameo as members of the film's fictional grunge wannabes Citizen Dick. In the midst of all this sits a cosy residential apartment block, a perfect setting for the emotional crises of on-again, off-again, on-again couples Steve and Linda (Campbell Scott and Kyra Sedgwick) and Cliff and Janet (Matt Dillon and Bridget Fonda). Steve is a sensitive transport engineer whose game-playing backfires when he meets Linda, an environmental activist with a fear of rejection. Cliff is a feckless rock musician, and front man for Citizen Dick, whose inability to commit to Janet is forcing her to take desperate measures. Will the couples split? Will they reunite? And will they learn a little something about life, maturity and commitment along the way? As you'd expect from the man behind the cutesy teen classic Say Anything (his directorial debut), Crowe's relationship resolutions are often simplistic and sentimental ("You rock my world!" and "You belong to me!" are two such vocal denouements). And this, combined with a rambling narrative often makes the movie feel longer than its 95 minutes (an inter-title announcing "The Theory of Eternal Dating" sums it up). Nonetheless, there's enough wit, comic digression and tap-along gaiety elsewhere to make Singles an enjoyably slight romantic placebo. -Kevin Maher.

The premise is delicious: A young, by-the-book FBI agent (Colin Hanks) is given his new, highest-profile assignment yet-spying on his own mother (Meg Ryan). My Mom's New Boyfriend is a romantic comedy (long on both romance and comedy), giving Ryan her first film in a long time where she can take the laughs and run with them. Viewers will remember, with a grateful sigh, why she long reigned as the queen of American romantic comedy. Ryan plays Marty, devoted mom, who last saw her son, Henry (Hanks), three years ago when she was unhealthy, coarse, and overweight (looking like she might have borrowed Monica's fat suit from Friends). When Henry returns home from his secret op, fiancée (Selma Blair) in tow, Marty's still coarse, but has become a babe with a healthy libido ("Oh Henry, lighten up!" is Marty's oft-repeated refrain). Henry is horrified, but his girlfriend, Emily, is entranced. In fact, some of the film's best chemistry is between these two gifted actresses, as they spark and feed off each other's energy. When Marty takes up with the sultry Tommy (Antonio Banderas), Henry gets the ultimate "TMI" assignment: spying on his mom and her honey, suspected in an art theft ring. Hanks squirms convincingly, Banderas smoulders, and Ryan truly sparkles, unleashing her wacky side. If the plot has a few potholes, it doesn't matter because the cast is stellar and has such magnetism. [+]

The Cutting Edge is a 1991 romantic sports comedy-drama set in the allegedly exciting world of Olympic-level figure-skating. Ice maiden Moira Kelly has been reared from birth by her driving father (Stepfather star Terry O'Quinn adding a creepy touch) to be a champion, but is constantly let down because she's so unpleasant that no one wants to be her partner. On the other side of the tracks, macho jock DB Sweeney is invalided out of ice hockey and recruited by Kelly's Russian coach (Roy Dotrice) to team up with her. They hate each other on sight but develop into a potential winning team, and, in between being nasty to each other, fall in nauseating lurve. The tension builds up as to who is going to win that Olympic gold medal in the finale (guess!) and whether the leads will be able to hold off strangling each other in time for the big last-minute clinch. The whole thing is a stew of mismatched couple and underdog-triumphs-in-sport clichés, directed by ex-Starsky and Hutch star Paul Michael Glaser, but it really falls down because Sweeney and Kelly obviously can't skate for toffee. The on-ice sequences, choreographed by medal-winning Robin Cousins in an only-job-he's-fit-for turn, employ doubles and tricky editing, which means the climactic struggle has to be quite literally skated over. On the DVD: The Cutting Edge comes to DVD in an anamorphic widescreen print that's in good shape but with that slightly feathery colour common in pre-digital transfers. There are English, German, French and Italian tracks; plus a single measly trailer. -Kim Newman.

One of the most memorably offbeat romantic comedies of the 1990s begins when a talk-radio veterinarian named Abby (Janeane Garofalo) takes a call from Brian (Ben Chaplin), the owner of a roller-skating Great Dane. Brian is intrigued by Abby's voice and asks if she'll agree to meet him. Insecure about her looks and her nonexistent love life, Abby agrees, but describes herself as a tall blonde, then begs her attractive neighbour Noelle (played by Uma Thurman) to meet with Brian in her place. The ensuing case of switched identity is complicated when Noelle takes a liking to Brian who, of course, thinks she is Abby. This confusion gains comedic momentum when Abby safely plays herself on the radio and in a long, hilariously seductive phone call with Brian, but by now the situation has grown hopelessly complex, and Abby has to find a way to reveal herself without disappointing Brian. Many viewers rightly complained that the movie relies on the assumption that Abby is unattractive, even though Garofalo is more attractive and appealing here than she'd been in several movies before and since. Still, this contemporary variation on Cyrano de Bergerac is a lightweight, good-natured surprise that values the quirks and foibles that make lovelorn romantics (including their pets) uniquely appealing. -Jeff Shannon.