Starring Ashton Kutcher and Amanda Peet. Rated PG.

The met-cute-but-don't-really-like-each-other construct is such a staple of romantic comedy that it's practically the heart of the genre. Although throwing obstacles in the way of new sweethearts makes good dramatic sense for any love story that would like to be longer than 20 minutes, it's usually a smart-aleck shortcut for writers more interested in feeding the egos of packaged stars than in wringing out fresh observations about the most basic of human pursuits (after, of course, the struggle to find food, shelter, and carbonated beverages).

That's why it's so refreshing to find that the filmmakers behind A Lot Like Love really take the time to let us know the lip lockers at its centre while they learn about each other, and themselves.

Of course, when you're a tabloid target as overexposed as Ashton Kutcher, you are bound to surprise people when it turns out that you can do something like act. But here the Punk'd booster is touchingly believable as Oliver Martin, a high-tech go-getter whose inner nerd is always getting in the way of his good looks.

Ollie's big break-or his curse, depending on how you look at it-comes when he bumps into the Goth-haired Emily Friehl (standout Amanda Peet) on the plane from L.A. for New York. They, um, hit it off, but she then tries to get rid of the bumpkin while she gets under his skin. So far so usual, but the film follows them over a seven-year period, from the height of the Internet boom through its crash to the present, just before the Great Oil Crisis of 2006. But let's stick to the story.

At their first encounter, Oliver has a Big Plan, involving job security and a house in the 'burbs; Emily's only plan is to avoid all planning. Needless to say, they are crazy about each other but are simply unwilling to alter their agendas to go for it. The trailers for A Lot Like Love make their misfired meetings over the years look a lot funnier than they turn out to be. But this is better than it sounds, because the romance turns out to be sweet and witty, even if the couple's problems aren't always that convincing.

The movie is smoothly directed by England's Nigel Cole, whose previous two feature efforts were the pleasantly unchallenging ladies-on-the-move flicks Saving Grace and Calendar Girls. Here he gives the locations a life of their own, which makes up for some of the dynamism lacking from an otherwise thoughtful script from Colin Patrick Lynch, an American actor turning in his first screenplay. Maybe the movie doesn't aspire or amount to all that much, but it does something unusual for popcorn fodder: it allows its characters to grow up, make mistakes, then make some more-but in more interesting ways. To the extent that it matters, it's a lot like life.