Lost and Found

David Spade tries to spread his wings in a romantic comedy that screams for fellow Saturday Night Live alum Adam Sandler. Lost and Found is cut from the same goofball-loser-meets-beautiful-girl formula that brought Sandler a huge hit with The Wedding Singer. The film has its barbed moments, but Spade is uncomfortably awkward as the leading man -- he's better employed in supporting comic roles, as in his TV series Just Shoot Me.

The plot revolves around Spade's financial problems as a restaurant owner, a lost engagement ring, a mountainous pile of dog shit, and a beautiful French cellist (Sophie Marceau), and it has a hard time finding its rhythm, bouncing from manipulative maudlin lulls to gut-wrenching scatological humor. There's even a Something About Mary spin involving an obnoxious, yapping canine who receives as much (physical-comedy) abuse as it doles out. Spade finds an ample Chris Farley replacement in the robust form of Artie Lange as his obsequious sidekick, and Martin Sheen and Jon Lovitz (as a dog whisperer) make devilish cameos, but the film belongs to Marceau. Her effervescence and graceful stature fill the screen, even if it's a stretch to see her go lip-to-lip with Spade.

-- Tom Meek