Must Love Dogs

Sarah Nolan is a preschool teacher who has been divorced for eight months and has grown wary of dating. Her sisters and her widowed father, convinced she should put herself back out there, push her toward personal ads and set-ups, and one sister posts a profile on her behalf that demands a love of dogs. Sarah ends up meeting a series of men, among them Jake, a boat builder whose social awkwardness hides a romantic streak, and Bob, a confident and recently divorced charmer. The story follows her attempts to sort out her own feelings while her family keeps intervening in her love life.

Must Love Dogs was released in 2005 and was directed by Gary David Goldberg, who also wrote the screenplay and produced alongside Jennifer Todd and Suzanne Todd. It was only his second feature as director, coming after Dad in 1989. Diane Lane plays Sarah, with John Cusack as Jake and Dermot Mulroney as Bob, while Elizabeth Perkins, Christopher Plummer and Stockard Channing appear in supporting roles among a credited cast of 42. The film runs 98 minutes.

Made for about 30 million dollars, it took in roughly 58 million worldwide. On IMDb it holds a 6 out of 10 from around 34,000 votes, and on TMDB a 5.9 out of 10 from 511 votes. A critics' rating of 5.3 out of 10 from 149 reviews sits below both audience scores, suggesting viewers were somewhat warmer toward it than reviewers.