Beth (Diane Keaton) is a woman that is coming to terms with her empty nest.  Her kids are growing up, marrying and starting lives of their own.  Well, Grace (Elizabeth Moss) isn’t going anywhere, or so she insists.  So when Beth and Grace find an injured dog by the side of the freeway, it’s probably kismet.  Beth’s husband Joseph (Kevin Kline) isn’t happy about the new addition, but the dog — christened “Freeway” — soon becomes a part of the family.  So when Freeway is lost in the woods, family and friends all do their best to find him.  Poor puppeh!

When I read the summary for Darling Companion, I jumped at the chance to review it.  Then I saw that it was by Lawrence Kasdan, director of one of my favorite movies, The Big Chill, and screenwriter for my nerd addictions Star Wars: Episode VI – Return of the Jedi, Star Wars: Episode V – The Empire Strikes Back, (part of what I like to think of as The Good Trilogy) and Raiders of the Lost Ark.  I tried not to get too excited for fear of building things up too much in my head.  I needn’t have worried; Darling Companion had me harkening back to my favorite feel-good films, like Baby Boom, In & Out, and yes, The Big Chill.

Diane Keaton plays Diane Keaton (which is always awesome), and Kevin Kline is as amazing as he always is.  Sam Shepard decides to fully embrace an old coot persona, lending his sheriff with heart of gold a just enough “get off my lawn!” grouchiness.  There’s tons of chemistry between the characters, as if these folks had been working together forever…and well, they have.  It was kind of strange seeing Keaton alongside Kline when I’m so used to seeing her as Shepard’s SO in Baby Boom.  Perhaps I need to shuffle my DVR player.

Mad Men’s Elizabeth Moss is lovely as a hard-edged girl who finds love and happiness when she and her mom bring Freeway to the vet’s office.  Now I want to see Moss give a Woody Allen movie a go.  Woody, get on that please.  But what really caught my eye was a brief animated bit, when Beth’s nightmares about Freeway are given life through some beautiful animation.  Lead animator Jan Van Buyten — who did Balto and All Dogs Go To Heaven 2, so that’s where the “where have I seen this style before” comes from — and his posse do beautiful work that adds to the story rather than pulling viewers away from it.

As the crew decide to search for the dog, hours pass into days, and the characters get real.  Their search serves to open up the good, the bad and the plain-old rude hidden in all their familiar politeness.  There’s enough screwball comedy here to give you the laugh-out-louds, but not so much that it ends up feeling forced or silly.  The search for the dog is like you’d search for your own pup; worry, frenzy, anger at the dog for getting himself lost, more worry, fear…and it never gets too twee.  Kasdan’s light touch with ensemble casts makes sure things stay entertaining and not soppy.  His stellar group of actors goes a long way to that end as well.

Darling Companion is based on Lawrence and Meg Kasdan’s experience of losing their own dog, and I’m glad they decided to make turn that story into this screenplay.  This film is comfortable, fun…you know those movies that have you smiling the whole way through?  Like that.  No, Darling Companion is that.