"The Matchmaker"

Directed by Mark Joffe

Starring Janeane Garofalo, David O'Hara, Milo O'Shea and Denis Leary

Talk about the luck of the Irish. They have a 90-percent success rate with matchmaker Dermot (Milo O'Shea) and we Americans end up with "Blind Date Horror Stories" on Geraldo.

In "The Matchmaker," the annual Irish mating season becomes a premise for (what else?) a romantic comedy. Self-dubbed "a romantic comedy for people who hate romantic comedies," the film is a sweet but still formulaic love story that squeezes mushiness out of every last rock in Ireland.

Janeane Garofalo ("The Truth About Cats and Dogs") stars as Marcy Tizard, a dedicated aide to Boston senator John McGlory (Jay O. Sanders). With McGlory's re-election on the line, Marcy is packed off to the boonies of Ireland to search for and exploit the senator's roots. Amid a matchmaking festival and a cadre of single desperate men, Marcy runs into cynical ex-journalist Sean (David O'Hara), who excites and confuses her at the same time.

The film falls into one of several templates for romantic comedies: boy meets girl, uninterested girl resists boy, boy scores with girl before losing her and then the inevitable cheesy reunion.

It seems as if a writer or studio executive dusted off an old screenplay and wrote in "Ireland" for the setting. With the handicap of convention, the film still can't resist throwing in the usual got-to-catch-the-plane-before-she-leaves scene.

The thing that makes this film so flat is that the couple's relationship is never in serious jeopardy. A truly satisfying love story makes the moviegoer scream out loud, "Oh my God, they aren't going to get back together!"

With this film, that's not the case. It's too easy to assume an apathetic attitude because the ending is way too obvious.

While searching for the senator's roots, Marcy might as well look for some interesting characters. Many are annoyingly one-dimensional: a dim-witted politician, an unethical campaign manager and every poor lonely schmuck imaginable. At least Marcy has spunk and her indifference to courting adds a bit of realism to an everyday adage: one finds love when one is not looking for it.

The film's quaint and charming notions of love appeal to both romantics and unromantics alike. "The Matchmaker" has a big heart. But with a formulaic plot, mild dramatic tension and a predictable ending, this heart beats with the blood of many other romantic predecessors.

William Li

Grade: B-