‘Addicted To Love’ Breaks The Routine

Lately it seems like the terms bad and romantic comedy can be used interchangeably. Luckily “Addicted to Love” breaks from that tradition.

This movie just might signal the return of fun romantic comedies. It sports a cast of familiar faces including Meg Ryan, Matthew Broderick and Kelly Preston. And “Addicted to Love” is also the first film that actor/producer Griffen Dunne (“An American Werewolf in London” and “Who’s That Girl”) has directed.

Ryan made a name for herself by playing cute, ditsy characters in films like “French Kiss” and “I.Q.” However she manages to escape that typecast in “Addicted to Love.”

She plays Maggie, a vindictive, vengeful person out to get her ex-fiance, Anton (Tcheky Karyo), who abruptly dumped her for another woman.

Maggie crosses paths with Sam (Matthew Broderick) who desperately wants to reclaim Linda (Kelly Preston), his ex-girlfriend, from Anton. Sam is too emotionally distraught toward the beginning of the film to plan his revenge. Before long, however, he and Maggie are working together to break up Anton and Linda.

It seems obvious from the trailer to this movie that Sam and Maggie are destined to be together, but Dunne does an excellent job of clouding over that predictability.

Sure, there are sparks between Maggie and Sam. Would it be a romantic comedy if there weren’t? Still, the movie isn’t nearly as predictable as one might assume.

Some of Maggie and Sam’s plans for revenge are imaginative and brilliantly executed. In one scene, for instance, they pass out pictures of Anton to small children, along with $5 bills and water guns filled with perfume. Then Maggie and Sam instruct the kids to go after the man in the picture. Needless to say, Linda is a little suspicious of Anton after he returns home smelling like a bottle of White Diamonds.

I won’t divulge the ending, but it doesn’t disappoint. Although “Addicted to Love” is a little formulaic, it’s different enough to be interesting. And besides an unfortunate “Lassie” metaphor, the movie couldn’t have a better ending.

While he is the least known of the four stars in this film, Tcheky Karyo steals the show. His character ranges from the debonair boyfriend to the bullying businessman, but always manages to maintain the qualities of the ideal bad guy.

So if you’re looking for an alternative to “The Lost World,” where fewer people are eaten, the dialogue is more believable and you don’t jump out of your seat every 10 minutes, “Addicted to Love” might just be for you.

Grade: A-