One of the most impressive, and gratifying, tricks in the movie business is defying genre. Audiences are hungry for familiarity, yes, but also for unconventionality, for originality. So when a film both fulfills expectations and offers surprises, it's a kind of alchemical magic...and, as any studio exec worth their salt would tell you, a likely hit at the box office.

Among Hollywood's current practitioners of the genre known as romantic comedy, there is no one more skilled at this particular sleight-of-hand than Robert Luketic. Luketic burst onto industry radar screens with Legally Blonde, a surprisingly smart, witty comedy that cemented Reese Witherspoon's A-list status and made more money than anyone ever expected. And now -- after wisely passing on Blonde's lackluster sequel -- Luketic has turned straw into gold once again. His new romantic satire, WIN A DATE WITH TAD HAMILTON!, is a full course genre-defying meal...equal parts comfort food and nouveau cuisine. Slight and saccharin as these kinds of pictures are by nature (and, dare I say it, should be), TAD HAMILTON is also continually arresting, superbly acted, and charmingly distinctive. I know that 2004 is still young, but you may be hard pressed to find a more appealingly-cast, sharply-written, audience-pleasing comedy all year.

The premise of the film is romantic-comedy cotton candy: a gorgeous movie star, Tad Hamilton (Josh Duhamel), needs some good press coverage to convince a director that he's the right choice for a new movie. His Abbott-and-Costello-ish agents (Nathan Lane and Sean Hayes), come up with a national contest that the title of the film spells out to the letter -- and with a young, wholesome girl from the sticks on his arm, how can the press not take notice? Trouble is, young girls from the sticks have minds of their own -- and this one, in particular, is Rosalie (Kate Bosworth), who comes fully equipped with a different world view, a shameless friend (Ginnifer Goodwin), and a long-suffering love interest (Topher Grace).

While the comedy plays out satisfactorily, the most amazing thing happens -- the crackerjack script by Victor Levin (TV's Mad About You) starts to talk intelligently, even sagely, about the larger themes. Here is, ostensibly, a teen-targeted genre picture wittily tackling the devastating consequences of the cycle of attraction, the ramifications of the culture of celebrity, even the danger of believing in movie-fueled fairy tales! (This, while it simultaneously delights in some of its own.) Let's not overstate the case -- WIN A DATE WITH TAD HAMILTON! will not be winning any Academy Awards, nor should it -- but for what it is, it is unflinchingly unafraid of its own intelligence and thoroughly entertaining. It is the cake that you get to eat, too.

Compiled largely from a cast of unknowns and dependable character actors, the cast clearly shines under Luketic's seasoned direction and enthusiasm. Perhaps best known is Topher Grace (That 70's Show), who shows a nimble dexterity in his performance as a brainy, lovestruck grocery store manager. I'll admit to personal skepticism about Grace's abilities; he's always seemed, in the past, to be an actor of decidedly limited ability. As Pete, however, he holds his expressive comic sensibilities close to the vest, letting the dialogue do its work without forcing the moment...say, the way Ashton Kutcher or Seann William Scott often do. As his polar opposite, newcomer Josh Duhamel (Las Vegas) nails Tad Hamilton's dichotomous nature, the fatuity of a mega-star and the earnestness of a man resolved to transformation. It goes without saying that he is gorgeous, and buff, and dreamy...that's the gig. The harder part is that we can't hate him because he's beautiful (or rich, or famous). Duhamel hits a genial stride early in the film, creating a reformed bad-boy who shows us his humanity early and often. He is nearly impossible to dislike.

The film really belongs to the girl between these two men, however, Rosalie. What a deceptively difficult role it is; the twists and turns in Levin's screenplay put nearly impossible logic demands on the character. One minute, smart and direct; the next, misguided and shallow. Truthfully, if Rosalie doesn't work, neither does WIN A DATE WITH TAD HAMILTON! Thankfully for all of us, Kate Bosworth steps up marvelously to the challenge. There's a cosmetic beauty to Bosworth, but not a manufactured one -- when she smiles (as is important in the story), she reveals a plaintive, girlish honesty that entrances without requiring brain-deadening hormonal rushes. In Bosworth's performance, it is clearly evident why these two very different men would cherish Rosalie so completely...she is imperfect perfection, a flawed work of art that is all the more interesting due to its flaws.

The central love triangle is ably supported by some marvelous character turns, especially Lane and Hayes. In some ways, these two broad comedian talents seem born to play off one another. (Someone smart out there is going to read this, and realize that -- Eureka! -- a buddy comedy starring these two is a no-brainer.) As Rosalie's erotically-charged friend Cathy, Goodwin resembles a less-spunky Kelly Obsourne. There's also a magnificent dry turn by Gary Cole as Rosalie's industry-watching dad. (In the film's best inside dig -- and there are a number of them -- Cole sports a shirt for HBO's "Project Greenlight"...the show that trashed him when he was up for a role last season, when he chose to do TAD HAMILTON instead. Revenge is a dish best served hilariously.)

Perhaps the greatest thing about WIN A DATE WITH TAD HAMILTON! is its potential appeal to a wide demographic. For girls who can't get their guys away from the football playoffs in January...this is the movie they'll like more than they expected. For art house fanatics sitting through the drought of early-year offerings, this is a mass-appeal flick with brains to boot. Sure, it's got some plotting problems, some predictability problems, and a number of plausibility problems. Don't let them deter you. It won't change the world, it won't even change the genre...but WIN A DATE WITH TAD HAMILTON! will quite enjoyably warm up a cold winter's evening.

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