A Lot like Love is a 2005 American romantic comedy-drama film directed by Nigel Cole and starring Ashton Kutcher and Amanda Peet.

The screenplay by Colin Patrick Lynch focuses on two individuals whose relationship slowly evolves from lust to friendship to romance over the course of seven years.

The film was released in the United States on April 22, 2005, recovered its production budget and received mixed reviews from critics.

Later she's aloof, but they cross paths again in the city and they spend a bit of time walking around, taking random shots with his camera.

Oliver and his business partner Jeeter develop their on-line diaper service, and Emily becomes a successful photographer.

Each time they meet they take turns, where one appears to be settled and content while the other is struggling to make headway in both life and career.

The night before she's meant to move in with her fiancé, after developing an old roll of film of when she met Oliver, she breaks it off.

"[5] Manohla Dargis of The New York Times said the film "isn't half bad and every so often is pretty good, filled with real sentiment, worked-through performances and a story textured enough to sometimes feel a lot like life.

If nothing else, A Lot Like Love is a pleasant reminder of a Hollywood time, seemingly long gone, when boy met girl in a midlevel romantic comedy without arty aspirations .

"[6] Roger Ebert of the Chicago Sun-Times observed, "The movie is 95 minutes long, and neither character says a single memorable thing.

As the sometimes couple, Ashton Kutcher and Amanda Peet are together in almost every scene, making it difficult to conceal the huge gap in their acting skills.

Bland and with a small television face (words once used to describe David Caruso, but equally applicable here), Kutcher is incapable of doing the heavy lifting required to be a romantic lead .

Peet, who has the looks and magnetism of a Kennedy offspring, makes Kutcher fade into the background, and you're left fantasizing what the movie might have been if Peter Sarsgaard had co-starred .

Indeed, those with a scientific turn of mind may take the devolution from Annie to Harry to A Lot Like Love as yet another demonstration of the Second Law of Thermodynamics, which says that in a closed system (an apt description of Hollywood if ever there was one) there is a tendency toward entropy - in this case, from acknowledged classic to memorable cable-television staple to dim, flabby dud .

If one thing saves A Lot Like Love from disaster - and I'm not sure it does - it's an easy chemistry between the leads, though one that owes little to Mr. Kutcher's performance .

Since running away with The Whole Nine Yards five years ago, Ms. Peet has had altogether too little opportunity to showcase her sexy comic appeal.