Must Not Love "Dogs"

Dear Dog Lady,

Just curious. What did you think of the movie “Must Love Dogs”? I saw it and was disappointed because there were too few dogs. Maybe I expected too much. Will it be remembered as the chick flick of summer ‘05?

Maisie, Santa Barbara, CA

Maisie, you’re not crazy for expecting more dogs, more plot, more action, more story from “Must Love Dogs.” The movie should have been a summer gumdrop, but it turned out to be a stale Milk Dud. Dog Lady, who, admittedly, has a critic’s unforgiving heart, was very disappointed.

Oh sure, leading lady Diane Lane is wonderful and veterans Christopher Plummer and Stockard Channing light up the screen whenever they appear. But they can’t stop the inanity of their characters or the insanity of a movie limping along without pups and passion – to wit, each of the leading characters must borrow a dog to pretend to love a dog. Canines have nothing to do with “Must Love Dogs” – except the movie is a dog. Don’t even bother when it soon comes out on DVD.

As far as Dog Lady is concerned, the chick flick of summer ’05 will always be remembered as “March of the Penguins.” The wobbly birds are so captivating they might as well have fur and wagging tails.

Posted by Dog Lady at November 4, 2005 07:57 PM