Catch and Release: Review By Brokaw

A woman's fiancé dies right before their wedding and unable to afford the place into which they were going to live, she moves into the house he shared with his two roommates. Another friend also comes to stay with them during this difficult time, and soon she is falling for him while another roommate reveals he has always loved her. In the meantime, another woman shows up with a little boy who is supposed to be the son of the dead fiancé. Does this sound like a soap opera?

Jennifer Garner is Gray, a sweet woman who must now deal with her grief over the loss of her fiancé Grady, and the realization that he was not the man she thought he was. With the revelation of this child he has been supporting for several years, Gray wrestles with her feelings of bereavement, confusion and anger as she tries to understand what is going on and come to terms with the fact that her fiancé was not a perfect man.

Fritz (Timothy Olyphant) comes to Boulder, Colorado for the funeral and ends up staying at the house with Gray, Sam (Kevin Smith), and Dennis (Sam Jaeger). The friends are now under one roof, and all are dealing with their grief in a different way. Something about Fritz intrigues Gray and she turns to him for comfort.

Then Maureen (Juliette Lewis) shows up with her son who is thought to be Grady's illegitimate child. And during this time Gray discovers Grady was a millionaire and supporting this child. All of these events make this strange little group bond in a special way. Then one day Dennis confides to Gray that he has always had feelings for her. Unfortunately for him, she now has feelings for Fritz.

The film delivers a lot of emotion and some funny moments. It is more drama than comedy, however. Boulder is the setting where this romantic drama takes place and where Fritz observes everyone is abnormally always happy. He longs for his home on the beach in Malibu, but his feelings for Gray keep him in Colorado longer than he originally intended.

In the end Gray and the group learn everything happens for a reason.