There's a telling moment in the middling romantic comedy Must Love Dogs: John Cusack, a lonely guy on his first real date with fellow divorcée Diane Lane, breaks dating etiquette by demanding that they end the small talk and start saying something real about themselves. For two vulnerable people still on the mend from the painful dissolution of their marriages, the chance to talk openly about their feelings comes as a relief, not least for an audience sick of their empty banter. Actors like Cusack and Lane have both been around the block a few times now, and they're just too smart and too mature to be put through the usual romantic-comedy paces, with all the obligatory meet-cutes and gay best friends and silly misunderstandings. For once, the movie should just stop the small talk and allow these seasoned performers to reveal something true about their characters, but writer-director Gary David Goldberg, the veteran TV producer behind Family Ties and Spin City, just keeps the riffs coming.
