It is usually a bad sign when a film arrives in cinemas several years after it was shot. Occasionally, you get a gem like Shaolin Soccer, but more often than not you get dreck like The Truth About Love. A romantic comedy in name only, this pitiful film sees Jennifer Love Hewitt attempting to win back her straying husband (Jimi Mistry) by posing as an adulterous mystery admirer. Meanwhile, lovelorn best mate Dougray Scott mopes tediously on the sidleines.
It is a poor movie indeed that makes you reconsider the talent of Richard Curtis, but as The Truth About Love plods wearily towards its oh-so predictable conclusion, you may find yourself wishing you'd stayed at home and rented Notting Hill instead. The story, kicked off by a single reckless Valentine's card, jumps through the usual romcom hoops, with Love Hewitt sending her faithless hubby naughty texts and whinging endlessly to her slutty best friend about his enthusiastic responses. The film's treatment of sexuality, incidentally, is embarassingly twee. Corsets and blindfolds are the height of perversion, apparently. Tacked onto this convoluted tale of mistaken identity is a subplot involving a footballer on trial for some sort of nookie-crime. Jimi Mistry and Dougray Scott are supposed to be the lawyers defending him. The footballer's agent is none other than Karl Howman, who was better in the Flash commercials.
"OH-SO PREDICTABLE"
Plus points: Love Hewitt is as watchable as ever and does a decent British accent, while Bristol makes for a an attractive and relatively unspoilt backdrop, shot with chocolate box prettiness by John Hay and his cinematographer Graham Frake.
The Truth About Love is released in UK cinemas on 14th February 2007.