Plot Details: This opinion reveals major details about the movie's plot.

It's cute.  It's quirky.  It's a fairly enjoyable romp that won't offend anybody.  But it's also a bit slow.  I'm talking about Seven Girlfriends, a Paul Lazarus movie starring Tim Daly.

Daly plays Jesse, a 30-something man who has no trouble starting relationships with women; he simply can't keep them going.  One after another, the women decide that Jesse can't give them what they want, and they dump him.  And now it seems that his current girlfriend Hannah (Olivia d'Abo) is about to the do the same thing.  Tired of being on the losing end, and not having a clue what he's doing wrong, he decides to get some answers.  So, when one of his ex-girlfriends passes away, he uses the drive to her funeral as an excuse to stop by various other ex-girlfriends' homes to interrogate them, in order to find out why they left him.

Thus we meet several of his ex's and we gain insight, along with Jesse, as to his past failings.  The various encounters are interesting - some are sweet, some are filled with venom, some are tossed in purely for the sake of comedy, and some are just downright weird.

But, mostly, Jesse learns what he's been doing wrong all along, and grows a little in the process. 

As romantic comedies go, this is one of the least-funny ones I've seen.  But that's OK - it really isn't trying to be one of those laugh-out-loud movies.  There are a few scenes that elicit a chuckle or two, enough to hold the viewer's interest.  But the movie doesn't attempt to deliver the big belly laughs, and that's quite alright with me.  I prefer a movie that doesn't try to be something it's not.

What this movie offers instead is a bit of uniqueness.  That's because all along Jesse's journey, we get to see how his relationship developed with "The One That Got Away".  That's how Jesse thinks of Anabeth (Laura Leighton), the girl whose funeral he's attending.  We see their relationship two different ways.  First, through flashbacks, where we get to see some of what really happened.  But Jesse also has a number of "visions" where he's imagining what could have happened.  It's a bit difficult, at first, to distinguish between the two types of scenes.  But eventually, either the dialog itself, or some fancy camera work, will clue the viewer in, to figure out if the events really happened or if they're in Jesse's mind.  These scenes lent an angle to this movie that makes it "different" from the standard romantic comedy, and I appreciated them, for that reason alone.

I liked some of the "encounter" scenes better than others. But one scene really sticks in my mind as just weird.  His encounter with his very first girlfriend, Marie (Mimi Rogers) was going along just fine until a particular scene with Marie's daughter.  The scene was clearly tossed in for shock value; it added nothing to the story, and was just completely unnecessary.

There was also a scene with Jesse's friend (Arye Gross) and Hannah that I absolutely could have lived without.

On the other hand, the performances were all terrific.  I really enjoyed the quirky d'Abo as Jesse's current girlfriend, struggling to figure out if she can make a life with him work.  As well as Melora Hardin as Laura, the friend of one of Jesse's ex's. 

And I would be remiss if I didn't mention part of the soundtrack.  Laura is a songwriter and she sings one of her current works-in-progress for Jesse.  The song is beautiful, and performed incredibly well by Ms. Hardin in the movie.  Later I found out the song, "Anywhere The Wind Blows" was actually written by Lauren Christy, who sings it during the movie's credits. 

All in all, a nice movie that's a bit slow to get started, but pays off nicely in the end.  Recommended for those who like their romantic comedies to fall closer to the drama side than the comedy side.

Recommended: Yes

Suitability For Children: Not suitable for Children of any age