"The Night We Never Met" (Romantic Comedy Video Risk) Although somewhat contrived and lacking in genuine chemistry between its main stars, this film is a worthy time killer. A charming date movie with some very funny moments and fresh likeable faces.

The Plot: A crude, cheesy young stock broker, Brian, played by Kevin Anderson with a kind of insider flair, who is about to marry, must give up his bachelor pad, or does he? Instead of letting his coveted apartment go, Brian devises a plan to sublet certain days of the week, allowing him to use the apartment on particular days. He rents the apartment to two lonely souls who do not know one another and take separate days of the week. The tenants are, Sam, played by Matthew Broderick and the other, is Ellen, played by Annabella Sciorra. Sam hopes to use the few days a week to meet women and Ellen plans to use them to escape her well-meaning but insensitive husband, Aaron. Needless to say one of the movie's problems is that the story is not really believable from the beginning because much of the humor and certain key plot elements hinge on the tenants not knowing each other and not knowing what each looks like. It is very hard to give in to the idea that they wouldn't introduce themselves early on in their tenancy because after all, they are roommates. Alas, the plot is a bit of movie magic in and of itself.

The Review: There can be no doubt that romantic comedies are only truly successful if the main characters generate real chemistry. The audience must believe that the main characters could fall for one another.

Last week, I reviewed "Brazil," and the love story, I believe, in "Brazil" was intentionally fake and staged. Luckily, "Brazil" is not billed as a romantic comedy, although, it was funny, and contained a certain amount of romance.

Funny moments alone are not enough to save a romantic comedy. While "The Night We Never Met" is funny throughout, it is not a successful romantic comedy because I never believed that Sam could ever find true love with Ellen. For reasons I will not reveal, the two are wounded and I'm sure are destined after a momentary fascination to move on.

Still, I do not think that it is the goal of every romantic comedy to depict true enduring love, but believing that the characters could find lasting happiness helps greatly. I remember watching Siskel and Ebert review "As Good as it Gets," a mighty fine film. Ebert correctly stated that "As Good as it Gets" could leave the viewer with the impression that the main characters' romance would not last. I agreed with Ebert, however, I disagreed that the fact that the main characters' romance was inevitably doomed lessened the impact of the film.

In "As Good as it Gets," the fact that the romance was forced and headed for bad times deepened the message of the film. Love can be fleeting. Therefore, "As Good as it Gets" may be a romantic tragedy.

"The Night we Never Met" is hampered by cliched supporting roles. Kevin Anderson was a good choice for Brian, the fraternity jock who uses the apartment he calls the "Lion's Den" for Sunday afternoon football and poker parties. His character is so poorly written that it shows that the skilled writer should have researched his characters more thoroughly.

Warren Leight is a talented playwright whose play "Side Man" won the 1999 Tony Award for Best Play. In "Night," Anderson does the best he can with the over-the-top cardboard depiction but is not given a character that the audience could ever believe. The scenes involving his character undermine the film significantly.

On the other hand, the part of Aaron is well written and showed maturity the rest of the film lacked. Aaron is played by Michael Mantel in a subdued, simple performance that added credibility to Ellen's dilemma. I believed that Ellen and Aaron could be a couple and would have problems. If the film did not contain other incredulous events and plot twists, Ellen's plight may have carried the film.

On the level of pure fun, I enjoyed seeing Justine Bateman (incredibly thin) in a movie, and found her big scene one of the comic high-lights of "Night." In addition, Jeanne Tripplehorn ("Basic Instinct") was strangely amusing as Pastel, a French (?) performance artist who toys with Sam's affections.

Throughout the film, I kept thinking about a fellow from my college days, let's call him Franklin, who acted as though his was British. The guy really had me fooled. He wore clothing from Europe, spoke with a thick British accent and openly told everyone that his was born and raised in Britain. Later, after the fellow left school, I was informed that he was actually from Southern Georgia. Although I was unable to confirm the truth to the story (please understand I liked the dude), I was intrigued by the idea.

The Pastel character made me remember Franklin, who, if the story about him were true, was a sad fellow who had lost his identity or was ashamed of his heritage. Maybe Pastel was really from Kansas.

Jonathan Hickman