Must Love Dogs (Blu-ray Review)
- Review Date: Jan 14, 2025
- Format: Blu-ray Disc
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Director
Gary David GoldbergRelease Date(s)
2005 (November 26, 2024)Studio(s)
Team Todd/Ubu Productions/Warner Bros. (Warner Archive Collection)- Film/Program Grade: B
- Video Grade: A
- Audio Grade: A
- Extras Grade: C
Review
Must Love Dogs, a romantic comedy that pokes fun at online dating, first impressions, and technologically inspired mating, offers amusing characters, witty dialogue, and a first-class ensemble cast.
Sarah Nolan (Diane Lane, Unfaithful) is a recently divorced pre-school teacher from a large family. Her well-meaning family and friends try to fix her up with eligible men, but Sarah is in kind of a depressed funk and in no mood for romance. Meaning well, her big sister Carol (Elizabeth Perkins, He Said, She Said) signs her up on an online dating service, submitting a profile that includes “must love dogs,” even though Sarah doesn’t own a dog.
Jake Anderson (John Cusack, Eight Men Out) is also recently divorced and immerses himself hand-crafting wooden boat hulls for a living. His buddy Charlie (Ben Shenkman, Requiem for a Dream) encourages him to start playing the field to enjoy the company of different women. Charlie eventually decides to check out a dating site, and responds to Sarah’s ad.
They meet in a park, both with dogs they’ve borrowed for the occasion. Both are initially nervous and say awkward things, and eventually the “date” turns sour. Sarah tosses it off as a wasted afternoon. A montage of Sarah’s subsequent dates is a highlight of the film as each gets worse, in its own unique way, than the previous one. Sarah does her best to cooperate, altering her hairstyle, wearing more provocative dresses, and trying to be patient with broadly drawn, stereotypical losers.
When she meets Bob Connor (Dermot Mulroney), the father of one of her students, there seems to be chemistry, but Sarah’s held back because she feels that dating him would be unethical. Carol assures her it’s not and urges her to “go for it.”
Lane conveys a range of emotions from shyness, embarrassment, nervousness, disappointment, and amusement as her Sarah starts dating. She suggests comical despair and sympathy for her dating partner when a date is going all wrong and genuine affection with her family, especially Carol and their father (Christopher Plummer, Knives Out), a widower who enjoys the company of younger women, sometimes more than one at a time. Lane’s warmth is apparent, even as Sarah fends off her well-meaning relatives.
Cusack initially comes off as a sad sack but eventually conveys a sense of humor, wit, and intelligence. Like Sarah, Jake is trying to find a soulmate, and Cusack’s awkwardness illustrates that this is a new, difficult experience for him.
Perkins gets many of the film’s best lines as she becomes Sarah’s personal cheerleader and coach. Her Carol is bossy in a nice way, funny, practical, and caring. She suggests in her scenes with Lane a shared upbringing, a camaraderie, and history. There’s clearly love and respect for her little sister.
Plummer, well tailored and well spoken, convinces as the gentle family patriarch who provides wisdom, in a practical way, recognizes Sarah’s fine qualities, and doesn’t want her to be alone. There’s a twinkle in Plummer’s eye that implies a harmless naughtiness.
Mulroney, handsome and polite, is the “other man” in Sarah’s life. Also divorced, he’s the only person Sarah meets apart from her computer dates. Mulroney makes the best of the role that requires him to appear only periodically to remind the viewer that Sarah has choices.
Writer/director Gary David Goldberg, whose credits include the sitcoms Phyllis, Family Ties, and The Bob Newhart Show, focuses more on character than one-liners in Must Love Dogs. He’s assembled a great cast, which strengthens the slight plot, and paces the film more leisurely than a TV sitcom. Some of the best scenes feature Sarah’s family together. We get the immediate impression that they’re a loving family who care about each other.
Must Love Dogs isn’t a film in which tragedy rears itself to upend a romance only to have the lovers overcome vast obstacles to be together. It’s about the awkwardness of getting back into the dating pool after years of marriage, recognizing the character and values that make for a good match, and following one’s heart.
The downside to Must Love Dogs is a completely contrived and unlikely climactic scene. Not only is it preposterous, it undermines the character of Sarah that Goldberg has established. Meant to be funny, this dopey scene just inspires head-shaking. Did Goldberg simply run out of good ideas for a final scene?
Must Love Dogs was shot by director of photography John Bailey on 35 mm film with Panavision Panaflex and Panavision Primo cameras with C-series and AWZ2 spherical lenses, finished photochemically, and presented in the aspect ratio of 2.35:1. The Blu-ray from Warner Archive features an aspect ratio of 2.39:1. Clarity and contrast are very good. Complexions are nicely rendered. The color palette tends toward brighter hues, especially in outdoor scenes. Vivid greens, buttery yellows, soft blues, and muted reds stand out. Details such as fur on the dogs, patterns on Sarah’s clothing, objects on a large dinner table, and items in the pre-school classroom are well delineated.
The soundtrack is English 5.1 DTS-HD Master Audio. English SDH subtitles are an available option. Dialogue is clear. The jokes are presented without hammering them, giving them a natural, conversational feel. Ambient background noise in restaurants and in a park scene provide an authentic sound mix. Craig Armstrong’s score is mostly upbeat and avoids cloying, sentimental chords. Songs in part include Hey There Lonely Girl (Eddie Holman), When Will I Be Loved (Linda Ronstadt), Come On, Get Happy (Diane Lane, Dermot Mulroney), I’d Rather Be in Love With You (Susan Haynes), and Dance All Night (Ryan Adams, The Cardinals).
Bonus materials on the Blu-ray from the Warner Archive Collection include the following:
- Deleted Scenes (8:23)
- Pass the Beef Gag Reel (1:01)
- Theatrical Trailer (2:03)
Deleted Scenes – Four deleted scenes are shown, one after the other.
Pass the Beef Gag Reel – In two botched takes of a scene in which Carol tosses a package of meat to Jake, Elizabeth Perkin’s (Carol) aim is so far off that actors and crew can’t help laughing.
Must Love Dogs requires considerable suspension of disbelief. It’s, ultimately, a fantasy. It’s romantic, sweet, and funny. It has its share of cliches but the exceptional cast makes up for that. The script veers into distracting territory at times when it focuses on Plummer’s character and a sibling’s marital problems, and the improbable climax is a jarring contrast to the rest of the film. Who Sarah ends up with is no big surprise. The fun of the film is how she gets there.
- Dennis Seuling