Jack (George Clooney) is a divorced journalist with a daughter named Maggie. When his former wife goes on her honeymoon with husband number two, Jack is left in charge of Maggie, something that does not occur very often. He has instructions to pick up a classmate of Maggie's but fails to arrive on time. Nevertheless, Jack does meet up with the boy and his mother, Melanie (Michelle Pfeiffer) at the school. All of them have missed the bus to the class field trip. Melanie is miffed and she and Jack have it out. However, during the course of the day, they will need each other and meet again at various times. Will Melanie stay angry with charming Jack forever? This adorable movie will be an enduring favorite for the next century and beyond. The two stars are so gorgeous and the youngsters playing the children are huggable beyond words. The plot is a string of funny encounters between Jack and Melanie, at the day care center, at the ice cream parlor, at a soccer game and more. Are you looking for a top of the line romantic comedy to vanquish the blues? Look no further, this is it!

When movies of today try and capture that "old-fashioned" feeling, usually it's the "values" that they're trying to recapture, forgetting that if you don't make a good movie, what you're left with is two hours of preaching. This movie, on the other hand, may be trying to capture that "old-fashioned" feeling, but the values it's after are the values of craftsmanship and intelligence, two things rarely seen in comedies these days. Oh, yes, and chemistry; Clooney and Pfeiffer have it in spades here. The fact that it's set among the world of working parents and, for the most part, tries to get the details right, also helps. And, oh yeah, it's funny. It is a little cloying at times, and the end feels abrupt, but overall this is a pleasing movie.

Melanie Parker (Michelle Pfeiffer) is an architect and mother of Sammy (Alex D. Linz). Jack Taylor (George Clooney) is a newspaper columnist and father of Maggie (Mae Whitman). They are both extremely busy divorcées, late for their kids' school field trip, and forced to babysit their kids for the day around their busy schedules.

These are two of the sexiest people in the world. It should be an easy matter to make a hot rom-com out of this. But this is a struggle. The scheduling problem reminds me of driving carpool and kids' baseball practice. And there aren't any big laughs. I think the biggest problem is that neither are great comedic actors. The humor is pretty much all the same. The kids cause problems for the parents, and they struggle to keep going with their hectic day. It's all very cute. The comedy is passable.

On the other hand, the romance doesn't get enough of a chance. They are separated for too much of the movie. I'm surprised they had time for romance with their busy day. The kids have more chemistry. The chemistry between the adults seems much more manufactured. I guess all rom-coms are manufactured. I just don't want it to feel like it.