'Catch and Release' is a fitting title for this romantic drama. Not because it alludes to some hidden emotional depth, but because it is so plodding and forgettable. Release you will, whilst wishing that you had snagged a bigger fish.

A disappointing directorial debut from Susannah Grant (writer of 'Erin Brokovich' and 'In Her Shoes'), this film tries to do too much — where it lacks in depth and character development, it overcompensates with convoluted sub-plots.

Not a bad idea in itself, the story revolves around a character that the audience never actually gets to meet. Grady Douglas dies during a bachelor's fishing trip a few days before his wedding and his fiancé Gray Wheeler (Jennifer Garner) is forced to hold his funeral on the day when they would have been married.

Devastated, Gray is supported by Grady’s best buddies Sam (Kevin Smith) and Dennis (Sam Jaeger), who offer her a room in their home when she can no longer afford to pay her rent. Unfortunately these kindly gentlemen are not the only friends who attend Grady's funeral. The suave and somewhat scandalous Fritz (Timothy Olyphant) is also in town, offending Gray and keeping dark secrets. Yip, you know where this is going.

But wait, there's more. Oh, so much more. It turns out that Grady wasn't quite the perfect man everyone thought he was. He had a secret stash of cash and another girlfriend and son secretly stashed away in another city. When the woman, a massage therapist called Maureen (Juliette Lewis) stops getting her maintenance cheques, she decides to pop in for a visit, her naughty son in tow.

Tempers fly, hearts are broken, secret crushes are reveal, suicide is attempted and it all ends happily ever after…well, for some anyway.

Jennifer Garner is Jennifer Garner minus the ass-kicking; Timothy Olyphant is suitably schmoozy and Sam Jaeger is suitably downtrodden and pathetic. And yet you hardly care. Undoubtedly the best performances come in the form of comic relief Kevin 'Silent Bob' Smith and quirky Juliette Lewis. A better film would, perhaps, have been one from her character's perspective.

Extras

Just in case you haven't already fallen asleep by the time the film ends, there is a whole whack of bonus features. Commentary from both the director and cinematographer means that you can sit through the whole movie again…twice.

There is a relatively brief feature on Susannah Grant which takes a behind-the-scenes look at her directorial debut and motivation for writing the screenplay, which unfortunately will do nothing to clarify any misgivings you may have about the plot and character development. Or why Garner is restricted to two facial expressions.

Gloss over the two deleted scenes and check out the audition tapes. The inclusion of these is rather novel, even if it does only confirm your suspicions that very little happened between the auditions and filming.

And then when you're done, ponder the film's most pressing question: why do Gra(d)y and Gray have such similar names. Are they really the same person? Is this really a film about death and transgender rebirth? Now that would make an interesting film.