Charlie (Brendan Hinds) runs a small coffee shop, where he also sells his personal blends of java. One day, he meets a beautiful woman, Daphne (Malin Akerman) and is very smitten. Courting her with a new coffee concoction, named for her, Charlie tries to attract her gaze in his direction. Unfortunately, Daphne has just buried her precious dog French Fry and is not really interested in romance at the moment. Nevertheless, non-animal lover Charlie is persistent, aided by his roommate's (Kevin Sussman) moral support. Making some progress, Charlie receives a happy phone call from Daphne, asking him over to her apartment. But, oh, no! There is a new dog, Baby Doll, who is now nicely ensconced in the young lady's apartment and she can't wait for Charlie and Baby to become friends. Fat chance, especially since Baby is a royal terror and/or pain in the neck! Can Charlie really get the girl here, despite the fact that his dislike for critters may surface at any moment? For romance lovers and animal lovers, this film will do very well for a future evening of viewing pleasure. The cast is quite nice, with the sunkissed Akerman very lovely and sweet, and with Hinds and Sussman displaying a deadpan wit and sarcasm that is most entertaining. Also, the darling little dog playing Baby Doll is very lively and comical, with an adorable independent streak. The setting in California is beautiful and the costumes, production values, script and direction are above average. The storyline goes a bit awry in the last third of the film but directs itself back to finish with gusto. If you are always combing the video stores or the Internet in search of new choices in the romcom genre, you should give this one a try. Although light as a cotton ball, it still has the required elements to charm its target crowd very nicely.
