Overrated

The thing I enjoyed most about the film is the fact that it doesn't shy away from being a super-sized-cliche;

Each character in this movie — down to the smallest one — is an individual rather than a type, prone to spontaneous changes of mood and sometimes amusing outbursts of pettiness or ill humor.

An old-fashioned movie made with new-fashioned finesse.

A gripping story driven largely by four fantastic performers - Diane Keaton, Kevin Kline, Dianne Wiest and Richard Jenkins, it tends to wander but makes its point and keeps you fascinated even though the plot twists seem unnccessary to a story which pretends to be romantic comedy in the opening scene until it goes in a different but marvelous direction. Keaton plays the role Woody Allen used to play decades ago when Keaton was once his co-star in several movies he directed. The central theme - four people brought together in sometimes isolated wilderness settings for purpose "A", yet finding their own way through self realization plan "B" was more tightly and brilliantly done by Deborah Kerr and Richard Burton leading the brilliant cast of "Night of the Iguana". To the four leads are added two supposedly supporting players who probably have as many lines and as much screen time as do the leads- the housekeeper of the second mountain home owned by Keaton and Kline and the nephew of Kline. These two supporting characters end up on a romance of their own which seems not necessary to the story- one does some soul searching in the fashion of the four leads but finds out less and one does no soul searching at all while playing what is normally the deus es machina to send the four leads out into unknown backwoods country in which much of the realizations take place.

The Kasdan's always seem to write about family relationships and this film is certainly no exception.Diane Keaton pulls out all the stops as the wife of spinal surgeon, Kevin Kline, mature and excellent in the part. She finds a dog on a highway with her daughter, the latter quickly marries the vet they bring the dog to.The film is about human relations among the family. Dianne Wiest is also very good as Kline's sister, with her new boyfriend and son, also a doctor, all attending the daughter's wedding.The film then becomes one of searching for the dog who goes lost. Everyone seems to reveal their inner selves and it becomes a fascinating character study.

Here's The Lowedown on "Darling Companion" (A Drama DVD review)...Liked It!Become a fan of The Lowedown on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/#!/pages/The-Lowedown/386583633764Genre: 6 Movie: 6What's it about? Beth (Diane Keaton) saves a bedraggled lost dog from the side of the freeway on a wintry day in Denver. Struggling with her distracted, self-involved husband Joseph (Kevin Kline) and an empty nest at home, Beth forms a special bond with the rescued animal.What did I think? Not the fastest moving film ever made, but it was a nice touching story. It seems to be all about this stray dog, when in fact it was about a family healing itself through an outside source. This movie is worth the rental, if you are in the mood for a quiet film with a good family element.

"Lassie, don't come home."Will movies never cease to amaze me? How could the creativity behind the pleasing ensemble film Grand Canyon, Lawrence Kasdan and his wife, Meg, be responsible for the insipid drama, Darling Companion? A lost dog? The hunt curing and binding the principle couples? Please!! Only surgeons, veterinarians, and their wives could have the time and resources to stay at a Colorado lodge to look for a lost dog. Of course, the dog is just the metaphor for the lost romance, to be found, of the couples, mostly Beth (Diane Keaton) and Joseph (Kevin Kline).It's difficult to describe how banal their interaction is, especially since Keaton overacts, flailing her arms at emotional moments, and Kline appears to wish he hadn't made this movie with his lines appropriate for a high school world premier.But then, Sam Shepherd, the world-class playwright, has to endure his thankless role as the curmudgeonly sheriff, and Diane Weist can only showcase her world-class cheekbones. Richard Jenkins as her silly love interest, well, he's had a whole lot better than his comic-relief buffoon.But then the writing Kasdans didn't have to worry about crafting each line since it seems every other line is a scream calling for lost dog, Freeway. When the most conflict you'll get is Joseph's enslavement to his cell, you have an idea that there are no new ideas. I suggest the real conflict is Beth's over dramatizing, which Joseph calls her on.Once again a film relies on the faded glory of its Hollywood royalty to tell a silly tale about older folk. I'm thinking I might enjoy the second edition of The Expendables, whose 65-year-old Sylvester Stallone is a has been, knows it, and makes no pretense about making a warm and fuzzy film.