here are so many likeable things about this excellent romantic comedy that it is hard to know what to praise first.>

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Meet them all, they're fun - by Steve Cohen

MARTHA - MEET FRANK, DANIEL AND LAURENCE

There are so many likeable things about this excellent romantic comedy that it is hard to know what to praise first.

In fact, the only dislikeable point is the film's unwieldy title which may well put off audiences from going to see the story of three friends who fall for the same girl.

So, to mark that, I am not going to mention its name once in this review and will instead concentrate on the many strengths of a fine British movie. For a start, there's just about the funniest joke I've ever seen in a film. It's relayed by Ray Winstone, who has little more than a cameo role, and it had the audience around me laughing aloud for several minutes afterwards.

Unfortunately, I cannot repeat the joke here without giving everything away. It's also impossible to tell much of the story without ruining some nice little twists.

Martha (Monica Potter) is a young American who flees from her dead-end life in Minneapolis and tries to make a new start as far away as possible.

She is virtually broke so she searches for the cheapest airline ticket possible to anywhere, and comes up with a $99 one-way trip to London.

Her luck appears to change immediately when she bumps into wealthy music executive Daniel (Tom Hollander) at the airport. He falls for her immediately and secretly upgrades her to first class so she can sit next to him.

Daniel, an arrogant, self-absorbed ladykiller, then sets her up in a hotel with the aim of seducing her. But things don't work out as planned and she goes missing in London, leaving Daniel heartbroken.

A bizarre chain of events ensues as Martha meets Daniel's two closest friends, Laurence (Joseph Fiennes) and Frank (Rufus Sewell). Both, inevitably, fall in love with her as well.

Frank is the complete opposite of Daniel. He is a drunken former child actor who has fallen on hard times. His cynicism is only matched in intensity by his avowed dislike of his friend Daniel.

Laurence, nicknamed Florence, is placid, dreamy and silent. He is the peace-maker who bonds the three together. He has none of the arrogance of the other two and, in fact, freezes whenever he feels nervous.

It is a lightweight film, perhaps, but it still manages to subtly explore the complexities and dilemmas of close friendship. All three are loyal to each other - while also sharing a loathing for each other that only comes with close knowledge of another person.

The movie cleverly flits back and forth between present and near past and is always lively and funny without ever being ridiculous. The flashbacks do threaten to slow the film down unnecessarily. But then Winstone's joke comes along and all is forgiven.

It's worth seeing this absurdly-titled film for that one gag alone. I'm still laughing thinking about it.

Converted for the new archive on 30 June 2000. Some images and formatting may have been lost in the conversion.