"Darling Companion" is about Beth (Diane Keaton), the wife of self-involved surgeon Joseph (Kevin Kline), who rescues an abandoned dog and becomes very attached to the dog named "Freeway." After their daughter's wedding, Joseph takes a walk through the mountains with Freeway but he is distracted with his cellphone and Freeway runs off. Beth is distraught and forms a search party made up of Joseph, Joseph's sister Penny and her new suitor Russell (Richard Jenkins), Penny's son Bryan (Mark Duplass), and a psychic/gypsy Carmen.
I wanted to like this film and there are some things to really like here. First of all, the cast is top-notch. Kline is especially effective as the self-involved doctor. There are also some funny parts, with some sharp lines. I think the problems with the film center on that it starts off as a romantic comedy but takes a turn into more of a relationship drama. This sort of genre-confusion usually drags a film down and I think that's the case here. The film seems to lag a bit as the film goes from rom-com to drama/character study but dips back to romantic comedy at time. I think this lack of focus is what brings the film down, which is a shame because I think the drama/character study portion could've made a strong film on its own.
Strong cast but could've been better - C-
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