In "The Last Kiss," Zach Braff plays Michael, an almost-30 architect, who has just learned his beloved girlfriend, Jenna (Jacinda Barrett), is pregnant. Michael says the proper, supportive things, trying not to see the suddenly predictable trajectory of his life. Well of course he's delighted -- so delighted that he succumbs immediately to the flirtations of Kim (Rachel Bilson). When she asks Michael if he has a girlfriend, and he takes that long moment to answer, she smells the lure of his hesitation.

"A little crisis there?" she asks.

Michael isn't the only one learning about true love the hard way. Chris (Casey Affleck), Michael's close friend, wants to leave his carping wife (Lauren Lee Smith) but not their child. Izzy (Michael Weston), another pal approaching 30, can't get over the high school sweetheart who left him. Even lady-killer Kenny (Eric Christian Olsen) has his woes: His latest sex partner is turning sweet on him.

Lest you think "The Last Kiss" is restricted to the almost-30 set, there's a terrific subplot in which Jenna's mother, Anna (Blythe Danner), feels a sudden need to break away from her devoted husband (Tom Wilkinson). Danner's performance, as she rages against the dying of the romantic light, all but steals the movie from Braff. (See In Focus on Page 41.)

A romantic nail-biter like this may sound like the opposite of fun. Do we really want to watch the slow-burn destruction of trust and happiness? In this case, yes. As Michael, Braff is terrifically winning. You can see the anguished debate in his eyes, even when he's making the worst choices. You know there's good in there somewhere. And what makes "The Last Kiss" especially satisfying is its vision of love as the soul of partnership -- rather than the crack high known as romance -- and something worth fighting for.

-- Desson Thomson (Sep. 15, 2006)

Contains profanity, sexual material and drug use.