Having scripted a pair of Sandra Bullock vehicles (the entertaining Miss Congeniality and the frankly abysmal Forces Of Nature), Marc Lawrence makes his directorial debut with his favourite actress in the spotlight once more.
The end result falls somewhere between his two previous efforts while not nearly as much fun as Congeniality, its certainly a vast improvement on Forces, and proves far wittier and perkier than much of the sentimental fluff that passes for mainstream rom-com these days.
That said, much of the reason for the films success is down to the pairing of Grant and Bullock, and its easy to see how the film could have been a leaden disaster in the hands of blander actors.
Thankfully these two, who made no secret of how well they got on during filming (sparking many a rumour still doing the rounds in some quarters that they were more than just good friends), not only seem comfortable in each others company, but do a fine of job of giving the material the lightweight treatment it needs.
Bullock is the less convincing of the pair her transformation from eco-friendly hippy-chick into buttoned-up, be-suited businesswoman requires some serious suspension of disbelief. But Grant, essentially rehashing the posh buffoon that has become something of a trademark role for him, is very likeable, and its he who bags the lions share of the films best lines. And there are just enough of these in Lawrences script which insults neither the intelligence of the audience nor its characters and, for the most part, avoids schmaltzy sweetness.
Its a pity, then, that the focus is so entirely upon the two leads that the supporting characters are barely given the chance to shine. Witts catty young legal exec is simply two-dimensional set-dressing, while Ivey and Klein, playing Bullocks parents, are disappointingly underused.
Its enjoyable enough, but you cant help feeling that a little more depth elsewhere would have gone a long way, rather than allowing the film to be overly dependent on its two stars.