The Object Of My Affection

But The Object Of My Affection (a hopelessly forgettable title) approaches these issues with a commendably light touch, skipping adroitly about in the romantic comedy mode in often a thoroughly entertaining manner.

And no one can deny that the world would be a much happier place if people were just more tolerant towards the differences that exist between us.

The concept of development of friendship as a necessary precursor to true love, a major theme of the film, is given a good work out. For good measure, and for your enjoyment, there's a good dose of fun ballroom in dancing The Object Of My Affection as our romantic couple go to dancing lessons.

The Object Of My Affection stars Jennifer Aniston who is best known as one of the Friends on TV, but also was great in She's The One and fine in Picture Perfect. Aniston excels in The Object Of My Affection as rich girl Nina who chooses to live away from the moneyed relatives and mix it with the disadvantaged. She also manages to fall in love with gay George who is played by Paul Rudd.

Paul Rudd was in Clueless and in Romeo And Juliet in what must have been minor roles but is perhaps just right in his treatment of George, although that depends on how you might feel George should have been played.

Homosexuals in the movies have taken on all sorts of hues and timbres ranging from plume spouting drag queens in films like Priscilla: Queen Of The Desert to weakly limp wristed, relatively non confrontational gays like the fellow in As Good As It Gets. (See The Celluloid Closet if you can, for a fairly exhaustive exposition on homosexuality in film. You'll never watch Ben Hur in quite the same again! That's if you ever watch Ben Hur again.)

In The Object Of My Affection George is played straight (not quite the right term), with none of the gay affectations he could have been given. And let me tell you that it would take a truly homosexual male to resist the attractions of Jennifer Aniston's Nina.

But let me encourage you to see the film to find out what does happen.

Alan Alda is fun as a harassed, literary agent father figure, juggling conversations with a quietly controlled panic reminiscent of the best brand of Woody Allen, desperate urbanite. Name dropping runs rampant amongst these rich literati.

Nigel Hawthorne (Yes Minister, The Madness Of King George) lends a special sort of dignity to his character as we would expect from an actor of his calibre, which is in keeping with the standard of what is a very pleasant, modern film.