By EWAN McDONALD
(Herald rating: * * * )
Matt (Josh Hartnett) is a nice guy. Only trouble is, whenever he sees an attractive woman, his hormones take over. Matt does not like this about himself. It is not good for his relationships, either.
Matt's breakup with his most recent girlfriend, Nicole (Vinessa
Shaw), convinces him that it's time to do something about this weakness. His brother, John (Adam Trese), who is studying to be a priest, advises Matt to give up sex for Lent.
Then Matt meets Erica (Shannyn Sossamon) in a laundromat. He tries to keep his distance and end the conversation before his usual suspect instincts kick in, but a week later he's back in the laundromat and soon they are involved. For Erica, it's not a typical boy-girl thing. On their first real date, when she's expecting a kiss, he gives her a high-5.
Matt finds his co-workers are running a sweep on how long he can go without sex and have put the news on a website. When Erica sees it, she is not best pleased.
Which brings us pretty close to Standard Hollywood Romantic Comedy Ending #2, which has some input from the previous girlfriend but is probably not what most viewers were expecting, which is Standard Hollywood Romantic Comedy Ending #1.
Still, a mostly inoffensive and lightweight way to spend an evening. Hartnett is similarly inoffensive and lightweight, which makes at least a partial change from his last outing in Pearl Harbor.
DVD features: movie (95min); commentary by director Michael Lehman, screenwriter Rob Perez and producer Michael London.
