62 AMERICANWAY
FEBRUARY 1 2008
Big Screen
LoveStories
TheMovie
TheHottie and theNottie
The Love Story
Nate
Cooper (Joel DavidMoore)
has been in lovewith
CristabelleAbbott (Paris
Hilton) since theywere
both six years old. But she’s
so devoted to her homely,
single best friend, he can’t
ever get her alone. So he
decides to give the friend,
JunePhigg (Christine La-
kin), amakeover andget
her a boyfriend.
VeryAttractive
Joel
DavidMoore, whom you’ve
probably never heard of,
has one of the best TV
creditswe’ve ever seen. In
an episode of
CSI
, hewas
“Guy in theYellowHat.”
Kind of a Turnoff
ParisHilton is in thismovie.
So that’s, well, worrisome.
Dateworthy?
No. Not
because thefilm is bad, and
not because of Hilton. It’s a
no because of Lakin.When
you see her on screen, you
verywell might blurt out,
“Hey, that girl used to be
Al Lambert on that Patrick
Duffy sitcom
StepbyStep
.”
And then your datewill
know that youwatched
StepbyStep
. Not good.
TheMovie
MyBlueberryNights
The Love Story
Play-
ingElizabeth, Norah Jones,
starring in her firstmovie,
hits themusically immortal-
izedRoute66 in search of
true love. Somewhere along
theway, she finds Jeremy
(Jude Law), which seems
like a pretty fortunate
break.
VeryAttractive
It’s as
good-looking a cast as you
may see all year: Joining
Jones andLaw are easy-on-
the-eyes stars RachelWeisz
andNataliePortman.
Kind of a Turnoff
Not
only has Jones never been
in amovie before, her only
legitimate acting experi-
ence prior to this film came
when she performed in a
play— in high school.
Dateworthy?
Yes.
Whether or not Jones per-
formswell, the soundtrack
is romantic all by itself. It
features songs by Jones (of
course) aswell as thework
of Cat Power (who also
appears in thefilm),Mavis
Staple, andOtis Redding.
TheMovie
Definitely,Maybe
The Love Story
Will
Hayes (RyanReynolds) is a
divorcingdadwhose daugh-
ter,Maya (Abigail Breslin),
wants him to explain how
he fell in and out of love
with hermom. Flashbacks
ensue.
VeryAttractive
The
plot is clever, albeit in a
How IMet YourMother
way. In theflashbacks,
Hayes changes the names
of the threewomen hewas
dating at the time hemet
Maya’smom so that neither
she norwe knowwhom he
ends upwith.
Kind of a Turnoff
Can
you see it coming? The kid
talks her father into falling
right back in lovewith her
mom?Yeah, we can too.
Dateworthy?
It de-
pends. Reynolds is plenty
likable, and the abs he
displayed in
Blade III
must
have gained him fans. But
does your ideal romantic
leadingman have a killer
six-pack
and
a 10-year-old?
TheMovie
Over Her DeadBody
The Love Story
Kate
(Eva LongoriaParker) and
Henry (Paul Rudd) are just
about tomarrywhenKate
is tragically killed. Henry
goes to seeAshley (Lake
Bell), a psychic, for comfort.
He finds it as he falls for
Ashley. She, however, does
not, as Kate starts haunt-
ing her.
VeryAttractive
The last
timewe sawLongoriaPark-
er on the big screen, she
was playing an overdressed
federal agent in
TheSenti-
nel
. In this film, her charac-
ter has, thankfully, ditched
the navy pantsuit.
Kind of a Turnoff
Weirdly, Jeff Lowell, mak-
ing his directorial debut
here, wrote
JohnTucker
Must Die
, starringLongoria
Parker’s sordid
Desperate
Housewives
love interest,
JesseMetcalfe. Hey, Carlos
Solis, you’re next.
Dateworthy?
Yes, if you
are a six-two, 180-pound
Belgium-bornNBAplayer
namedTony. And/or if you
just likePaul Rudd.
TheMovie
Fool’sGold
The Love Story
Mat-
thewMcConaughey and
KateHudson playmarried
treasure hunterswho are
about to divorcewhen they
stumble onto a potentially
huge treasure thatwas lost
at sea in 1715.
VeryAttractive
The
movie’s tagline is touchingly
cheesy: “This February, true
love takes a dive.”
Kind of a Turnoff
Mat-
thewMcConaughey plays a
laid-back surfer typewho
owns a junky boat, which
is a bigdeparture for him,
because usually he plays a
laid-back surfer typewho
owns a junky car.
Dateworthy?
No. Unless,
that is, you foundHudson
andMcConaughey to be
sweet and romantic in
How
to Lose aGuy in 10Days
—because if you liked that
movie, you’ll like anything.
February is abigmonth for romanticmovies. Butwhichareworth seeingwith that special someone?
By JosephGuinto
