zif ofoz This movie is a study in awful! Just awful!The story unfolds like you are pulling teeth! Diane Keaton is just plain weird here and Kevin Kline looks lost and confused throughout.Story - Beth finds a dog along a snow covered freeway. Risk her life to get dog. Dog becomes pet. One year later daughter married veterinarian that doctored frozen dog. Dog runs away (that should have been a hint to viewers). All that happens in first 20 minutes of movie! Now you have 83 more minutes to watch a bunch of actors run around in woods looking for dog - it rains, it's cold, they are stupid.If there is an example of 'actors doing it for the money' this is it! Good luck watching .... this movie is bad medicine.

kosmasp You have to have a heart for animals to be able to watch this and really enjoy it. There is some eye candy for male viewers (though her story line tries to go beyond that and the actress carries that weight effortlessly), but it's Diane Keaton, the Dog and Kevin Kline (in that order), that really hold the movie together.Substories and romantic interludes, marriage problems, but also the absurd (superstituous) are being handled decently. It still might feel a bit too much for some viewers though. Kline just about holds his own in a very slim outlined character outlet, that he has to work with. Clichés abound and an ending that is so over the top (literally), that you'll probably cry (for better or worse).

edwagreen The Kasdan's always seem to write about family relationships and this film is certainly no exception.Diane Keaton pulls out all the stops as the wife of spinal surgeon, Kevin Kline, mature and excellent in the part. She finds a dog on a highway with her daughter, the latter quickly marries the vet they bring the dog to.The film is about human relations among the family. Dianne Wiest is also very good as Kline's sister, with her new boyfriend and son, also a doctor, all attending the daughter's wedding.The film then becomes one of searching for the dog who goes lost. Everyone seems to reveal their inner selves and it becomes a fascinating character study.

napierslogs I know what you're thinking, do we really need another must-love-dogs romantic comedy? Thankfully, contrary to marketing attempts, "Darling Companion" is not a romantic comedy. It's more like an outdoor adventure, relationship dramedy, mystery. Unfortunately, it did start as if it was a romantic comedy. Mother and daughter were annoyingly commiserating on the problems of finding a good man. Then they found a dog and met a cute doctor.I was squirming in my seat faster than they could say "I do." But then something funny happened on the way to the wedding. The boring romantic comedy angle was already wrapped up and they dropped the beleaguered jokes comparing man to dog. And then the film became a fairly simple but enjoyable treatise on the relationships and world views of a handful of family members and close friends.To me, the movie starts when Beth (Diane Keaton)'s dog goes missing. Her husband, Joseph (Kevin Kline), lost it, but he doesn't care. He only likes his money and telling people that he's a doctor. But his practice is just going to have to wait because she's not going home until they find Freeway (the beautiful Collie-mix Kasey). She is helped by Carmen, an exotic sex-goddess who freely admits that she's a psychic gypsy blessed with receiving images of the lost dog. Nephew Brian (Mark Duplass) likes Carmen; he does not like his future step-father Russell (Richard Jenkins). Russell pretty much likes everyone and everything. Joseph doesn't like the dog and he especially doesn't like alleged gypsy psychics leading his family on wild goose chases.The older members of the audience were laughing first, but eventually a little bit of humour in the form of funny lines came through. Kevin Kline was hilarious as the irritable elitist insulting hippie ideals and alleged gypsy psychics. The dialogue was quick, astute and savvy in navigating all the characters towards happiness in their relationships.If you can equate the search for the missing dog as a mystery, then it would be worth comparing this film to Woody Allen's "Manhattan Murder Mystery" (1993). A delightful discussion on relationships set to a mystery plot. It doesn't hurt that the cast includes a couple of Allen regulars (Keaton and Dianne Wiest).It takes awhile to realize that this is not a dull romantic comedy, but if you're looking for a mature, heart-warming relationship dramedy, "Darling Companion" eventually finds its way.