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— by Ben Cosgrove
Not too many people are lukewarm toward Valentine's Day — we either love it or dread it. Of course, one's attitude is likely to have a great deal to do with how your love life is faring. Got someone you're into, and who's into you? Bring on the candy, the roses and the tequila. Just been dumped, or "between gigs"? Bring on the ice cream and long nights in front of the tube. Happily, there are plenty of movies catering to both sensibilities: Here are a few great date flicks on DVD, and a few that might hit the spot for the lonely hearts club.
Love Me
 "Hitch" (2005)
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Will Smith is Alex "Hitch" Hitchens, a "date doctor" who teaches clueless guys how to woo and win women. But even his considerable talents are tested to the breaking point by poor, awkward everyman Albert (Kevin James), a man head-over-heels crazy about a socialite named Allegra Cole (Amber Valletta). Of course, as this is a comedy (for most of its running time, at any rate), Hitch's own smooth ways are sorely tested when he falls for Sara (Eva Mendes), a gossip scribe who, it turns out, is frequently shadowing Albert's dream girl for items for her column. Got all that? Smith, as always, carries the film with a deft combination of goofball humor and suave self-satisfaction. And even when the story veers into serious moments that feel out of place in such light fare, the insights into relationships ring true.
"Moulin Rouge!" (2001)
Director Baz Luhrmann's giddy, occasionally kooky "Moulin Rouge!" is the sort of movie that leaves you scratching your head and smiling at the same time. Starring Ewan McGregor as Christian, a young writer in turn-of-the-19th-century Paris and Nicole Kidman as Satine, a singing and dancing temptress who soon has Christian flying, dancing and singing his way around the City of Lights, the movie feels rather like the sort of party one never wants to end. (That the songs being sung are by the likes of U2, the Beatles and Bowie seems perfectly reasonable in Luhrman's bizarre and very attractive universe.)
"Return To Me" (2000)
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Bonnie Hunt co-wrote, directed and co-stars in "Return to Me," a smarter-than-average tale of a man (David Duchovny) who falls for the woman (Minnie Driver) who has received a heart transplant — from his dead wife. Weird? Yes. Creepy? Oddly enough, no. In fact, after the initial odd feeling wears off — Is this guy really falling for this woman, or does he just love her for that big old organ? — the story settles down into a fairly untraditional but still thoroughly feel-good film. The supporting cast (Robert Loggia, Hunt, James Belushi and Carroll O'Connor as Driver's grandfather) is terrific, and the whole thing hums along with a sense that: Hey, ya know what? Sometimes life is ok and people can find love despite all the horrible crap that happens in their lives.
"Shakespeare In Love" (1998)
No, this was not the best film of 1998, despite its numerous Oscars, including Best Picture. ("Saving Private Ryan," anyone?) But it was the best romantic comedy focusing on a young William Shakespeare's writer's block and his uproariously romantic highs and lows. Starring Joseph Fiennes (yes, the brother of Ralph) as the bard and Gwyneth Paltrow as his muse, Viola, and a raft of England's finest thespians (Tom Wilkinson, Judi Dench, Simon Callow, the ubiquitous and always-watchable Colin Firth) the film is an irresistible love letter to heartfelt folly, lust and really sumptuous clothes.
"Out Of Sight" (1998)
Before George Clooney was A-list and just as Jennifer Lopez was becoming J. Lo (but before she became an adjective), Steven Soderbergh put the two together in a film about a career bank robber (Clooney) and a federal marshal (Lopez) who first discover how hot they are for each other while being driven around in the trunk of a car. Sound sexy? We know — it doesn't. But trust us. It is — as is pretty much every scene between the two of them in this smart adaptation of Elmore Leonard's criminally entertaining novel.
Love Me Not
"Me And You And Everyone We Know" (2005)
Vermont-born Miranda July wrote, directed and co-stars in this nearly perfect indie film — that is, it's perfectly indie in the sense that no Hollywood studio would ever have given a first-time director the leeway to follow this sort of vision to its conclusion. Winner of the Caméra d'Or for best first film at Cannes, "Me and You" follows several lonely, seeking souls on their journeys of, if not self-discovery, at least an occasional flash of insight. Focusing primarily on the attempts by two misfits, Richard (John Hawkes from "The Perfect Storm" and "Deadwood") and Christine (July), to somehow find some pleasure and companionship in their lives, this is a challenging take on love — one that demands more compassion than simply old passion from its audience.
"Before Sunset" (2004)
This quiet, thoughtful and leisurely sequel to Richard Linklater's quiet, thoughtful and leisurely "Before Sunrise" (1995) finds the two principals, Jesse and Celine, a little older and lot more beat-up by life than they were when they first spent an evening together in Vienna nine years before. This time around, they meet up in Celine's (Julie Delpy) hometown, Paris, where Jesse (Ethan Hawke) has a free day while on a book tour, and some real sweetness and heartache ensues. Got a hankering to see a film that actually treats adults like adults and refuses to pander to audiences' expectations of what a real-world, once-in-a-lifetime romance feels like? Here ya go.
"A Mighty Wind" (2003)
As with most Christopher Guest films, there are a million reasons to enjoy "A Mighty Wind," but the one element of the movie that touches on our Valentine's Day theme is the by turns hilarious and moving relationship between two former folk-music-singing partners and lovers, Mitch (Eugene Levy, who co-wrote the film) and Mickey (the brilliant Catherine O'Hara). When the two are brought together for a performance during a benefit concert at New York's famed Town Hall, decades after they last saw one another, the until-then utterly farcical plot veers into surprisingly touching territory. Who knew a Guest flick could almost bring ya to tears?
"Punch-Drunk Love" (2002)
Described by writer and director Paul Thomas Anderson as "an art house Adam Sandler film," this unpredictable tale casts a light on two loveable creeps, Barry and Lena (Sandler and Emily Watson), as they slowly wade together through a seemingly endless series of awkward situations, looking to find some sort of semblance of real affection. That the audience actually cares whether the two lovebirds make it or not is a testament to Anderson's talents, and to Sandler's (yes, Sandler's) and Watson's courage as actors. Still, it feels as much like a cautionary tale as a romance — and might just put you off dating for a year or two.
"High Fidelity" (2000)
Stephen Frears and John Cusack are a formidable team. In the 1990 neo-noir classic "The Grifters," the British-born Frears got the first genuinely deep performance out of the then-24-year-old Cusack. Ten years later, he tapped into the offhand charm that had turned Cusack into the go-to guy for sensitive-leading-man-with-a-dark-secret roles and delivered one of the great break-up flicks of all time. Cusack plays a record-store owner who, on the heels of being dumped by his latest squeeze, examines his past relationships through the lens of his obsessive, ongoing love affair with music. Funny, sweet and genuine, the film has more to say about what it means to try and make real connections in an artificial, pre-packaged world than a shelf full of self-help books.
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Photos: Sony Pictures Home Entertainment
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