Love Hurts

Year: 2009
Country: USA
Run Time: 95 minutes

Richard E. Grant, the hilarious star of "Withnail and I" and "Gosford Park," plays Ben, an insensitive otolaryngologist in his late 40s who's already a fuddy-duddy. His attractive wife Amanda, fed up with his inattention, moves out to take up with a nurturing horticulturist. Aghast and caught completely off guard, Ben goes deep into mourning, drinking himself into a sloppy stupor and refusing to get out of his PJs for days. In an effort to help the guy, Ben and Amanda's studly son Jason, a college-bound teen who's catnip to the ladies, remakes him into a Dude. Newly adorned with an expensive spiky hairdo and trendy black clothes, the hapless Ben discovers he's suddenly a babe magnet. His nurse, his personal trainer, and a pair of love-crazed, karaoke-singing twins can't keep their hands off him. In a way, Ben's never been happier, though he still can't stop thinking about Amanda. When young Jason finds himself in unrequited love with a distant Russian ballerina, it's Ben's turn to give him a few pointers. LOVE HURTS is an antic comedy with a stellar cast, including Jenna Elfman and Janeane Garofalo. – B.B.

• Tweet