Martha - Meet Frank, Daniel And Laurence review

Think When Harry, Harry And Harry Met Sally. Think Sleepless In London. Because the snappily monickered (or the worst film title ever) Martha - - Meet Frank, Daniel and Laurence is an unashamed rom-com - and a British film. Plus, according to the Channel Four hype machine gone into overdrive, it's the best Brit flick since oooh... probably Four Weddings And A Funeral (yes, The Full Monty was great but it's hardly a classic).

Ultimately, this smart comedy is not quite in the same league, but there is some logic in being semi-excited by it. For Martha Meet... boasts five hugely engaging performances and a tightly-scripted and clever keep-you-guessing-'til-the-end, jumping-backwards-and-forwards-in-time plot, all doused with a smattering of sassy Brit humour.

It's ostensibly a tale of fate and love at first sight: Frank (Rufus Sewell) is an unemployed actor, perpetually involved in a game of one-upmanship with Daniel (Tom Hollander) a rich, flashy music executive. Between them is Laurence (Joseph Fiennes, younger brother of Ralph), a bridge teacher and long-suffering peacekeeper and middleman. Then enter the kooky, cute, really down-on-her-luck Martha (a delightful Monica Potter), who amazingly possesses nearly all the mannerisms, smile and charm of a Pretty Woman-era Julia Roberts.

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This cast of four flit breezily around neatly photographed London locations as diverse as airports, art galleries, coffee shops, parks, hotel rooms and the blokes' houses. The action also includes a fifth protagonist (Ray Winstone), although his involvement as a psychiatrist is really a device to keep the plot together.

There are some delightful moments to savour, as the boys and girl lurch between ecstasy and despair, embroiled in their own increasingly frantic cat-and-mouse activities. Laurence and Martha do a "no, my life is worse than yours" sketch (reminiscent of Dreyfuss and Shaw comparing wounds in Jaws), while a first nearly-kiss between the girl and one of the boys is as restrained and touching a scene as you might ever hope to see.

It all works beautifully - up to a point. There is, however, not nearly enough genuine humour on offer and the characters are too one-and-a-half dimensional. But the ending, while a touch low-key, remains immensely satisfying, and the film as a whole hits the button marked "feelgood" with an invigorating punch.