"Must Love Dogs" is a 2005 American romantic comedy film inspired by Claire Cook's 2002 novel of the same name. The movie stars Diane Lane and John Cusack. It is the second and last film created, written, and directed by Gary David Goldberg. The film was made with a budget of $30 million and follows a woman's experiences with divorce and meeting new people after her marriage ends.

Production began on October 12, 2004, and the film was released on July 29, 2005. Some critics found the movie predictable, but they did not blame the actors for the film's weaknesses. It was also the last project ever made by Ubu Productions, an independent company. The film opened in fifth place during its first weekend and earned $58.4 million worldwide. It was released on VHS and DVD on December 20, 2005, and later made available on Warner Archive Blu-ray disc on November 26, 2024.

Plot

Sarah Nolan, a 40-year-old divorced preschool teacher, is encouraged by her family to consider dating. Her family shows her pictures of possible partners, but she is not interested in starting a relationship. Jake Anderson, another recently divorced man, faces a similar situation. His friend, Charlie, wants to introduce him to Sherry, but Jake prefers spending time working on his handmade boats.

Sarah’s sister, Carol, visits and they talk about Bob Connor, a parent at Sarah’s school. Sarah finds Bob attractive but does not want a complicated relationship. Carol creates a dating profile for Sarah on perfectmatch.com, using a photo from Sarah’s high school graduation. The profile describes Sarah as curvy and states that her dates must love dogs. Sarah is currently caring for her brother Michael’s Newfoundland dog while Michael deals with marital issues. She has several unsuccessful dates with men, including one who cries easily, one with a criminal record, and one who behaves inappropriately toward children.

Jake meets Sherry at an art gallery, where she asks why he did not contact her. He explains he is not interested. Charlie then gives Jake a copy of Sarah’s dating profile and tells him they have a date the next day at a dog park. The meeting is awkward: Jake brings a borrowed terrier and offends Sarah by analyzing her profile. He later admits the dog is not his. Sarah leaves but agrees to see him again.

At dinner, Jake asks Sarah why she divorced her husband. She explains her ex-husband stopped loving her and was not ready to have children. Now, her ex-husband is with a younger woman and is expecting a baby. The date continues to Sarah’s home, where they discover they do not have condoms. They search the city for condoms but lose their interest when they find them.

Jake tells Charlie that Sarah interests him and tries to call her later. Meanwhile, Sarah connects with Bob Connor and visits his home, only to find him with his younger coworker, June. She leaves quickly, dropping her wallet.

Returning home, Sarah finds her brother Michael drunk and upset about his marriage. Jake, who has been helping Michael, is there. They share a kiss, then Jake takes Michael home while Sarah lights candles to create a romantic mood. Bob returns Sarah’s wallet and says he and June are not a couple, then kisses her as Jake returns. Jake becomes upset and leaves.

Around Thanksgiving, Sarah calls Bob, and they have sex at a hotel. The next morning, Bob is rude, and Sarah realizes he had been with June. He had not told her because he still wanted to be with her.

Meanwhile, Jake takes Sherry to see the movie Doctor Zhivago. Sarah sees Jake leaving the theater and talks to him about the film. She notices Sherry and realizes they are on a date. Sarah leaves again, and when Sherry invites Jake to her apartment, he refuses and walks home.

Jake meets a man named Bill outside a coffee shop, not knowing he is Sarah’s father. Jake shares that he is heartbroken, and Bill mentions he has a single daughter but Jake declines.

Later, Sarah has coffee with Bill and realizes Jake had been talking about her. She goes to Jake’s home with the dog but finds him on the lake with his boat. She convinces a girls’ crew team to take her to him, then swims to his boat. She tells Jake how she feels about him, and they kiss.

Later, when they tell the story of how they met, they both say they found each other at a dog park.

Casting

Diane Lane accepted the role because she wanted to try something new compared to her recent performances and preferred to film locally. She was very nervous about any acting without a script that John Cusack added to the film. When Cusack attempted to have her improvise, she thought, "I don’t feel confident. I start blushing a lot and get sweaty, and I don’t know. Old school." John Cusack was planning to make another film in Europe, but the project ended suddenly. He met with Goldberg, and after reading the script, they invited him to join the film. Impressed by the actors already cast, Cusack said, "That’s a strong background, so I was happy to be asked to join such a talented group." Cusack had always wanted to work with Lane and had been watching her career for a long time. Kyra Sedgwick was originally cast as Carol Nolan, but Elizabeth Perkins played the role instead. Brad William Henke took the role of Leo because he "fell in love with the fact that it wasn’t a stereotypical character." The crew did not mind the character’s appearance, and Henke was able to portray a normal person.

Production

Goldberg became interested in starting the project after reading Cook's book. He believed the book had many humorous elements and worked to obtain the film rights. Goldberg collaborated closely with Cook, sharing early versions of the script with her and seeking her feedback. He also involved her in the casting decisions. Although Cook only visited the set twice, she expressed satisfaction with the film, stating it was a strong representation of the book and a quality movie on its own.

Goldberg's approach involved selecting an actor first, then writing and revising the script while working on set. During filming, Goldberg frequently brought new script pages to the set, and Cusack provided suggestions for the script. Cusack also performed scenes where he was allowed to speak freely, as directed by Goldberg.

Goldberg selected a Newfoundland dog to play a role, even though the novel featured a different breed. Mother Teresa was portrayed by two women, Molly and Mabel. Lane explained that the decision to hire twins was similar to how people often prefer twins for certain roles. The dogs were chosen as puppies and trained by Boone Narr for several months before filming. During production, the dogs were still puppies, about six months old and weighing 80 pounds. After filming ended, Goldberg adopted both dogs. Part of their training involved following the commands of a trainer who remained off-camera while focusing on the actor during filming.

Release

On Rotten Tomatoes, the movie has an approval rating of 37%, based on reviews from 149 critics. The site’s consensus said, "Although the main actors are likeable, the romantic comedy Must Love Dogs is too predictable." On Metacritic, the film has a weighted average score of 46 out of 100, based on 36 critics, which means "some critics liked it, and others did not." Audiences surveyed by CinemaScore gave the film an average grade of "B+" on a scale from "A+" to "F."

Roger Ebert wrote that while actors Meg Ryan and John Cusack are "two of the most likeable actors in movies," they "deserve characters that the movie takes more seriously and puts at more risk." He gave the film two out of four stars. Stephen Holden of The New York Times gave a negative review, asking how the actors were "tricked into lending their talents to the project." He also said the film has "made-up events," is "clueless," and is "too outdated and clichéd."

A review from Rolling Stone noted the film has a "great title" and "appealing performances" from Ryan and Cusack. The review gave the film three out of four stars and said, "Just when you think you understand the director, he surprises you with new ideas." Ann Hornaday from The Washington Post wrote that the film "works because Ryan is an actress who can do almost anything and still earn the audience’s love." She also mentioned the film has a "very likeable supporting cast" and that Ryan and Cusack "worked well together."

The film opened in fifth place with $12.8 million in 2,505 theaters, earning an average of $5,131 per theater. It stayed in theaters for 12 weeks and was in the top 10 for its first three weeks. The film earned $58,405,313 total, placing it at number 66 for all films released in 2005.

Must Love Dogs was released on DVD and VHS on December 20, 2005. The video "looks nice but is a bit blurry, and some artificial sharpening only makes it worse, not better." The audio is "standard" and "would sound the same through headphones." The DVD includes four extra scenes totaling about eight minutes with optional commentary from the director, and a gag reel titled "Pass the Beef" lasting about one minute. The film was later released on Warner Archive Blu-ray on November 26, 2024, with the same extras as the DVD.