Must Love Dogs is a 2005 American romantic comedy film based on Claire Cook's 2002 novel of the same name.

Jake Anderson, another recent divorcé, is in a similar position; his friend Charlie wants to match him with Sherry.

Sarah's sister Carol visits and they discuss Bob Connor, a parent from school.

She is described as voluptuous and her dates "must love dogs" (Sarah is currently caring for her brother Michael's Newfoundland, while he goes through marital problems).

It proves to be awkward: Jake shows up with a borrowed terrier and offends her when he begins to analyze her profile, then he reveals the dog is not really his.

Arriving home, she finds her brother Michael drunk over his marital problems, and Jake, who has been taking care of him.

Jake and Sarah share a kiss, he then takes Michael home while she lights candles to set the mood.

Sarah sees Jake leaving the theater afterward, runs up and begins discussing the film with him.

Jake runs into a man named Bill outside a coffee shop, not realizing he is Sarah's father.

She heads over to Jake's with the dog, but he is on the lake with his boat and can't hear her yelling from the shore.

[4] Kyra Sedgwick was originally cast in the part of Carol Nolan, which was ultimately played by Elizabeth Perkins.

[5] Brad William Henke took the role of Leo because he "fell in love with the fact that it wasn’t a stereotypical character."

[7] Part of the training of the dogs was to follow the commands of the trainer who was situated off-camera while focusing attention on the actor.

The site's consensus was that "Despite good work from its likable leads, the romantic comedy Must Love Dogs is too predictable.

[11] Stephen Holden of The New York Times gave the film a negative review, wondering how the actors were "bamboozled into lending their talents to the project."

[12] A more positive review from Rolling Stone said that the film had a "great title and appealing performances" from Lane and Cusack.

"[13] Ann Hornaday from The Washington Post noted the film "works because Lane is one of those actresses who can do just about anything and still earn the audience's undying love."

Hornaday mentioned that the movie "features an enormously appealing supporting cast" and commented on how well Lane and Cusack worked together on the film.

[16] The video "is lush but soft, and some artificial sharpening only adds insult to injury, doing nothing to alleviate the overall lack of fine detail."