Quartile rating: 5.5/10 · 1 rating
Christina's love life is stuck in neutral. After years of avoiding the hazards of a meaningful relationship, one night while club-hopping with her girlfriends, she meets Peter, her perfect match. Fed up with playing games, she finally gets the courage to let her guard down and follow her heart, only to discover that Peter has suddenly left town. Accompanied by Courtney, she sets out to capture the one that got away.
The Sweetest Thing is a raunchy early-2000s sex comedy that leans heavily on gross-out gags and familiar rom-com beats without distinguishing itself meaningfully. The plot is thin and predictable, following well-worn territory of the commitment-phobe woman chasing the guy who got away. Cameron Diaz and Christina Applegate bring enough charisma and comedic timing to elevate the material slightly above its script, making the acting a relative bright spot. The cinematography is serviceable but unremarkable, typical of mid-budget studio comedies of the era. Novelty is low — despite its female-driven raunchy angle (a mild subversion for 2002), the execution is largely formulaic. The ending wraps up in the most conventional rom-com fashion possible, undercutting whatever edge the film had built up.