Lost and Found

A Los Angeles restaurateur (David Spade), smitten with his new neighbor (Sophie Marceau), kidnaps her dog so he can win her heart with a heroic rescue. Spade’s sneering-yuppie shtick makes him ideal to play the hero’s smartass sidekick, but he’s the last person you’d believe as a romantic leading man. Marceau goes gamely through her paces, but there’s no chemistry between her and Spade. Lacking that made-for-each-other tension between his stars, director Jeff Pollack marks time with extraneous side gags about a lumbering employee (Artie Lange) who idolizes Spade and Spade’s strip poker games with the old ladies next door. John Lovitz, unbilled, has one amusing scene as a “dog whisperer”.