Must Love Dogs (2005)

A forty-something preschool teacher looks to the personals for a change of pace and a relationship, with hilarious results.

Director:

Gary David Goldberg

Writers:

Claire Cook (novel), Gary David Goldberg (screenplay)

Stars:

Diane Lane, John Cusack, Elizabeth Perkins

1 nomination.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Diane Lane	...	Sarah Nolan
John Cusack	...	Jake
Elizabeth Perkins	...	Carol
Christopher Plummer	...	Bill
Dermot Mulroney	...	Bob
Stockard Channing	...	Dolly
Ali Hillis	...	Christine
Brad William Henke	...	Leo
Julie Gonzalo	...	June
Glenn Howerton	...	Michael
Ben Shenkman	...	Charlie
Jordana Spiro	...	Sherry
Kirk Trutner	...	Deli Guy
Victor Webster	...	Eric
Michael Spound	...	Marc

Storyline

Sarah Nolan, a recently divorced thirty-something year old, has a family that just can't help getting involved in her personal life, or lack there of. After her sister puts her profile on PerfectMatch.com, this preschool teacher goes on a number of outrageous and hilarious dates. But will she be able to find the one, who must love dogs?

---

Plot Keywords:

dog | teacher | love | date | dating | 

---

Taglines:

The hardest trick is making them stay.

---

Genres:

Comedy | Romance

---

Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated PG-13 for sexual content

Details

Official Sites:

Warner Bros [France] Warner Bros. [United States]

Country:

USA

Language:

English Armenian

Release Date:

29 July 2005 (USA)

Also Known As:

Frau mit Hund sucht Mann mit Herz

Filming Locations:

Los Angeles, California, USA

Box Office

Budget:

$30,000,000 (estimated)

Opening Weekend:

$46,116 (South Africa) (4 November 2005)

Gross:

$431,860 (South Africa) (18 November 2005)

Company Credits

Production Co:

Warner Bros., Team Todd, Ubu Productions

Technical Specs

Runtime:

98 min

Sound Mix:

DTS Dolby Digital SDDS

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

The "sticks" that the kids hop through in the beginning of the movie is a traditional Filipino dance. Tinikling is a dance where the sticks actually open and close to the beat of the music and dancers step through them gracefully.

---

Goofs

When Dolly is showing Sarah her multiple personalities on different matchmaking web sites, her computer screen shows an Apple Mac OS X desktop. Then she goes on and tells Sarah how her computer is working for her 24 hours a day "God bless its little Pentium-chip heart". Apple Mac OS X did not run on Intel Pentium computers when the movie was filmed.

---

Quotes

[first lines]
Rebecca: The best place to meet a guy is at the supermarket. You don't need to waste a lot of time there, either. You see a guy holding a list, you know he's married. He's in the frozen food section carrying a small basket, he's single. I like to hang out by fruits and vegetables, there's a better chance of getting a guy who's healthy.

---

Crazy Credits

During the credits, two Newfoundlands are shown, with the following caption: "No animals were harmed during the filming of this movie. Though we were petted within an inch of our lives."

---

Connections

Features Giant (1956)

---

Soundtracks

"Shell"
Written by Glen Ballard and Susie Suh
Performed by Susie Suh
Courtesy of Epic Records
By Arrangement with SONY BMG Entertainment

User Reviews

Not entirely a waste of $7, but...

This movie had all the ingredients necessary to be one of those romantic comedies that are also 'good' films. The cast is competent, the actors all likable. But unfortunately, the writing is sub par. It is almost embarrassing to watch Diane Lane (or any of the actresses playing her sisters) recite lines like '...boob shirt? Boob shirt?...I don't have any boob shirts..' or '...that is disturbing on so many levels...' and other trite and trendy phrases. While John Cusack escapes most of the embarrassment (he has the best lines, and the best performance), it is still a film beneath him.

The movie has too many false moments in it to be entirely enjoyed - the obligatory gay friend Diane has, and of course his drop dead gorgeous model-like boyfriend; the large Irish family that seems to drop their accents from scene to scene; the trailer-park girlfriend; Diane's scene where she just shows up at Cusack's home (how did she know where to go, and what was her hurry?); and of course the 'chase' scene at the end where of course she had to bring her dog. And for that matter, it wasn't even her dog so even the title does not entirely make sense.

It's a shame, because like I said, the cast is likable. Just goes to show you that without the right screenwriter, even strong players can come across as high school acting students.