I expected this film to fall right in line with previously mentioned successful romantic comedies that I have seen over the past few years. This film does not disappoint in its ability to tell that same old "guy meets girl, guy loses girl, guy wins girl back" story. The interesting part about this film is in how it sings the same old tune with a new cynical flair and a little bit of extra creativity. The character of Owen is your average guy who is fed up with his life, and tired of lying to everyone in it in an effort to make things go as smoothly as possible. He is not your average romantic comedy hero in the sense that he is a recovering alcoholic and generally a very despicable guy, but he shows that he does have a heart in certain points throughout the film. Owen's journey through self-discovery is one that has rarely been seen before, at least not to my knowledge. His intention is to destroy all of the bonds that hold together his shallow West Coast life and escape what he thinks is an unaccomplished existence. And contrary to your average romantic leading man, where the journey spirals to a climactic revelation of some sort, Owen's journey just continues to spiral until the absolute last moment where, as a writer, Hawley throws in a very well planned and insightful twist.

And while How to Lose Your Lover easily sells itself as a unique and quirky love story, what struck me were the performances from a relatively unknown cast. Paul Schneider delivers the character of Owen in a very neurotic and uncanny manner, and his often intelligent rants about life are overshadowed by his naive sense of accomplishment as he walks through his life burning bridge after bridge along the way. He is flanked by the very endearing performance of Poppy Montgomery (The Other Sister), who plays Owen's best friend and confidant Allison. Her performance draws us in with her very dry, sarcastic persona, then we fall in love with her subtle innocence. The movie is also enriched with the performances of Westfeldt, who brings the character of Val a very alluring innocence that draws Owen in making it that much harder for him to leave and Fred Willard (Anchorman) who plays Bucky, a washed up, immoral astronaut for whom Owen is writing a biography. Willard's moments in the film provide a light amount of raunchy comedy that offsets the otherwise sappy theme of this film. The best part about this cast is that they truly embody their roles. None of them may ever be heralded as astounding talents, but in this film they were very well chosen and they give the movie an immense sense of believability.