Must Love Dogs

Herald rating: ***

Jake Anderson (John Cusack) builds racing yachts. He is recently divorced. Sarah Nolan (Diane Lane), 40-ish, kindergarten teacher, is divorced. Convinced she is a lost cause, romantically, her sister Carol (Elizabeth Perkins) posts a singles ad on the internet.

The guy "must love dogs", because that will allow the writer and director to run through the rituals of contemporary dating and bring Sarah and Jake together.

But there is another man in the picture: the father of one of her toddlers (Dermot Mulroney).

And then there is her father, played with style, wit and spice by Christopher Plummer, barely remembered as Baron von Trapp in The Sound of Music.

Said to be happily married for 45 years, when his wife dies he logs on to the internet dating game. In the best scene, one of his blind dates turns out to be his daughter. Another is Stockard Channing, in a scintillating cameo.

There's little on the DVD: eight or nine minutes of additional scenes, a teaspoon of artificial sweetener from actor Sam Lloyd, a brief gag reel and commentary by writer/director Gary David Goldberg.

* DVD, Video rental today