The central story of this struck a chord - a why not, the myth is so strong: a man comes back to his home town ten years after leaving; no longer fat and a loser he's now handsome and successful and the girl of his dreams is still single. So far so good and they add a hilarious character in an Ashlee Simpson type.
The script feels as though it needed another story spine apart from the central relationship and the character of the girl (Amy Smart) I just couldn't warm to: she didn't go out with Ryan Reynolds because he was fat and now he's rich and handsome she's interested in him, and I couldn't see any more depth to the character than that. I kept waiting for the writers to give her a "pat the dog" moment but they never did apart form the fact she is good with children. (In contrast in There's Something About Mary, Cameron Diaz genuinely likes Ben Stiller at the beginning - it's Stiller's fault their date ends so disastrously; so he is an object worthy of affection.)
Ryan Reynolds would have been better off with the Ashlee Simpson character, who seems to genuinely like him, has talent (of a kind) and pays for a trip to Paris. So what if she's a bit mad?
So the film didn't work for me, though the cast give their all, including a funny Chris Klein.
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