Hola all. Massawyrm here.

At first glance No Reservations looks like one of those scripts. Everyone who has ever been at a pitch workshop or screenwriters gathering of any kind has seen those scripts. Those Rom/Com pitches that are built entirely around one gimmick. One joke. This? This looks like the same old story with a whole lot of kitchen jokes and some good old fashioned fortune cookie wisdom served up in adorably cute little food metaphors. At first glance.

However, despite the fact that this is pretty gosh darn predictable and everything in it plays to type – it really is pretty damned entertaining. First of all, it's not really a romantic comedy. It is on occasion funny, and it is a romantic film, but really this is one of those old school, sweet dramas about a woman discovering what's really important in life.

Is it cliché? You bet your sweet man parts it is. It's the same old story of an unhappy woman at the top of her field who really needs to be a spontaneous mother and find herself a spontaneous man to shake up her painstakingly routine life and show her that life is a collection of moments, not a constant ascent up some career ladder. Feel inspired yet? Right. Nothing new here. A film like this lives and dies on the charisma of its leads, and fortunately for No Reservations, that's what it has in spades. Catherine Zeta-Jones plays the uptight, way too hot to be single woman better than pretty much anyone, and she cranks up the intensity enough to give a proper amount of reality to her situation. You have no doubts as to why she doesn't have a man. She scares them right the hell away. She's always on edge and has to be in control, and plays it as if she's just about to snap without pouring on the neurosis like many actresses feel they have to in this role - so she never gets Diane Keaton scary.

Opposite her, and bringing all the saccharine they can muster is this years Dakota Fanning, Abigail Breslin as the little orphan girl who needs a mom, and Aaron Ekhart as the wacky, spontaneous romantic who wants to muscle his way into our heroines heart. And really, it is these three actors together that gives this movie all of its charm. Because while you can see every plot point coming a click and a half away, and what complications do arise really aren't all that dramatic, you get caught up in the syrupy wholesomeness of it all regardless. The chemistry of the three is just undeniable.

In addition, this has the same kind of love affair with food as Ratatouille, leaving you salivating through half the film and craving a GOOD meal afterwards. My wife and I trucked off to a local Italian joint immediately after for a big dish of Tiramisu – and what began as a work night became something of a date night. Overall, it's just one of those positive, feel good, wonderful little bubbles of happy escapism that makes for the very best kind of date movie. Sweet, romantic and not at all painful for the boyfriends and husbands that aren't willingly attending it.

This isn't a revelation of any kind and it isn't destined to become any kind of classic. But it will entertain the hell out of you – especially if you are devoid of any kind of "Y" chromosome. Perfectly placed in a summer devoid of any kind of femnale driven entertainment, this one is destioned to be considered this years The Devil Wears Prada. And if you have a significant other dragging you to this, score yourself some extra points by making plans or, oh god, I can't believe I'm saying this, reservations for a favorite restaurant afterwards. Trust me on this. The forethought is gonna pay off.

Until next time friends, smoke ‘em if ya got ‘em.

Massawyrm

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