I went into this movie having briefly seen the reviews on other sites. To summarize the pre-release reviews, critics generally said “avoid it”.

But, my wife likes Jennifer Aniston, and I am a sucker for a good romantic comedy, so we go see this film on opening weekend.

All in all, I liked it. The movie gets credit from me for attempting to break the “mold” of romantic comedies. In fact, the movie tries to infuse some real drama and real emotion in between the laughs. At one point Vince Vaughn is screaming at the top of his lungs in frustration, and there is no punch line. Later Jennifer Aniston has her heart broken and is crying, and she can't be consoled.

But there are some genuinely funny moments as well. And the supporting cast really does a good job in supporting the primary actors.

But as much as I liked the movie, I can understand the criticisms that are made of it. Genre-breaking movies such as this are somewhat doomed to endure the wrath of movie audiences and critics. I don't think there is any way to avoid it. It's as if you created a James Bond thriller where, at the end of the movie, the bad guy succeeded. Bond was too late to stop it, and the bad guy detonated the nuclear device and killed millions of people. And then the movie ended. I think people would leave the theater a bit disappointed with that. So too are people disappointed when a romatic comedy doesn't end in the normal way.

All in all, I would say this was a pretty good movie. I am glad I saw it - it wasn't a waste of money. But don't go in there expecting to see Sleepless in Seattle or Notting Hill. The movie tries harder than most to make this break up resemble a real-life breakup - and sometimes it ain't pretty.