from Film Forum, 04/28/05Ashton Kutcher's popularity grew on the strength of That '70s Show, and increased further through his practical joke antics on MTV's Punk'd. Critics are wondering if his box office success is another sort of practical joke. Kutcher has another big screen hit in director Nigel Cole's comedy A Lot Like Love, which reviewers are describing as disposable and forgettable.
David DiCerto (Catholic News Service) calls the film "occasionally appealing but mostly forgettable. [It's] a lot like too many other contemporary romantic comedies, especially those of the opposites-attract variety. Boy meets girl. Boy loses girl. Boy gets girl. Audience loses interest."
Bob Smithouser (Plugged In) says, "Perhaps for a generation co-opted by the detached, aloof sexuality preached 24/7 on MTV, A Lot Like Love will possess an element of truth. How sad if it does. Judging from the definition of love laid out in 1 Corinthians 13, Oliver and Emily's vacuous seven-year romance is a whole lot more like lust, promiscuity and cohabitation."
Michael Elliott (Movie Parables) writes that the movie is "a lot like When Harry Met Sally … made for a Generation X audience. There are some differences: Director Nigel Cole is no Rob Reiner; screenwriter Colin Patrick Lynch is no Nora Ephron; and stars Ashton Kutcher and Amanda Peet can't quite muster the neurotic electricity that added to the appeal of Billy Crystal and Meg Ryan."
Mainstream critics' reviews are a lot like religious press reviews—mostly negative.
