‘Love’ amuses despite murky male messages

Kam Williams

Julie Davidson (Vanessa Williams) thought she knew what she was doing when she decided to be impregnated via artificial insemination. As a swamped reporter for Metropolitan Magazine, she had simply been too busy to date and didn’t want to wait for a husband, so she went to a sperm bank and she picked out a tall, dark and handsome donor with a high SAT score, an Ivy League education and a law degree. Or so she thought.

You can imagine Julie’s surprise when she got the news that her six-year-old son Jake (Jeremy Gumbs) had been pegged as an academic underachiever and diagnosed with attention deficit disorder. Figuring that his biological father, Paul Cooper (Kevin Daniels), might have some answers about whether this unfortunate condition had been inherited or was a genetic anomaly, the concerned mom tracks him down and is shocked to learn that the dude is actually a depressed, unemployed, alcoholic, freeloading dropout living in the ’hood.

But, thank God, at least he’s cute and likes little kids, which means Julie falls in love at first sight and it’s just a matter of time before she dumps her relatively emasculated Pulitzer Prize-winning fiancé Ted (Michael Boatman) for the new flame.

The ensuing love triangle serves as the center of “And Then Came Love,” a lighthearted look at 21st century mating habits that opens in limited release in New York and San Francisco this weekend.

The comedy was directed by Richard Schenkman, an actor-turned-producer/director perhaps best known for a string of Playboy films, though Schenkman here proves himself quite capable of working clean. For her part, Williams delivers another noteworthy performance on the heels of her winning outing in “My Brother,” perhaps a sign that she’s fully blossomed into a well-rounded actress with an array of talents in her arsenal.

The supporting cast also includes the irrepressible Eartha Kitt, who steals all her scenes as Julie’s mother, Mona, a woman impatient to see her daughter married. Ben Vereen also shines as Chuck, Paul’s imperious father. Veteran character actor Stephen Spinella provides a little comic relief as Stuart, Julie’s flamboyantly gay colleague. Unfortunately, Stuart only seems to be around to act as the target of homophobic insinuations, a sad staple of far too many ghetto-oriented films.

Be forewarned: In order to enjoy this predictable comedy, one must buy into the picture’s preposterous premise — namely, that such a focused career woman would even entertain the idea of throwing over her practically perfect Mr. Right for a player who had knocked her up by proxy under false pretenses.

What we have here is a flick that goes a long way toward suggesting that looks trump everything, given that Julie loses her head when she gets the hots for a hunk with nothing going for him except the fact that he’s her baby’s daddy. That said, “And Then Came Love” is still entertaining enough to merit consideration as a mildly amusing diversion, even if it might deliver a dubious message to impressionable teenage girls torn between dating a nerdy nice guy and a loser without much of a future.