At the age of 29, cover girl Kim (former model Jill Sorensen, who also wrote the screenplay) is already over the hill. After being sent home from a photo shoot for "looking tired," and getting snubbed by her agent, Kim tries to coax her boyfriend (Michael T. Weiss) to move to Connecticut with her to start a family. When he dodges her request several times, she breaks up with him to get his attention. The breakup, which he accepts all too readily, ends up sticking, and Kim is forced to adjust to a new life.

The "learning to cope" storyline is straightforward and doesn't offer a hook we haven't seen before, but individual scenes still offer up plenty of laughs. Kim's misadventures in seeking employment and new love are the highlights of the film. A scene in which the director of a commercial for feminine hygiene products asks Kim to play the mother of a model only two years younger is hilarious while also feeling depressingly realistic. And several of her blind dates, including a sex addict who swears he's committed to abstinence and a guy who's last name unfortunately sounds like a venereal disease, come close to stealing the show.

There are times when Marmalade tries to venture too far into dramatic territory. Scenes having to do with Kim's recently deceased mother feel out of place and exist only to force us to feel even more sorry for her. While we certainly sympathize with Kim in her various predicaments, it's difficult to pity her too much. After all, she's the one who insulted the photographer who sent her home, instigated her breakup, and squandered the fortune that she had made. Luckily, these melodramatic moments are few and far between.

The film does lack focus from time to time. Various subplots involving Kim's friend and her boyfriend and their trials and tribulations with jealousy, pregnancy and film financing wind up feeling like part of an entirely different movie. But, they also feel like part of a funny, entirely different movie.

Ultimately, Marmalade winds up being entertaining enough. And as romantic comedies go, that's not half bad.

Matthew Scott Hunter

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