It's the phrase that stops any hot-blooded macho sexual predator dead in his testosterone-filled tracks.

"I love you like a brother" - the most painful words known to (lusty) man - are the six words that guarantee humiliation and impotent rage.

High school fatboy Chris (Reynolds) is on the receiving end of the "just friends" speech when he makes his move on best (platonic) buddy and cheerleader Jamie (Palamino).

Crippled with shame, he decides Jamie isn't his friend anymore and heads off to LA where he loses a couple of stone and wins respect as a hotshot record executive.

Ten years on he find himself back in New Jersey when the plane carrying him and doolally singing poppet Samantha James (Faris) is forced to make an emergency landing.

Jamie is still there - pulling pints at a local bar - and, so Chris discovers, are his unrequited feelings for her.

However, despite his trappings of west coast cool, Chris still finds himself in the friend zone - "where you become a non-sexual entity...like a brother or a lamp."

Ryan Reynolds is slowly making his way to the Hollywood A-list despite outings in lack-lustre efforts such as The Amityville Horror.

This routine rom-com from Roger Kumble is more in tune with his skills as a comedy actor and romantic lead but still falls short as a vehicle for his considerable talents.

It's enjoyable enough - Amy Smart makes a nice foil for his rebuffed seduction and Anna Faris relishes her role as Paris Hilton twinned with Courtney Love.

However, it seems to be merely ticking over when it could be delivering a comedy tour de force at full pelt.

That said, there's still plenty to offer, including a nice performance from Chris Klein as the weaselly rival to Chris's affections.

But perhaps it's time that Ryan Reynolds decided that, from now on, he and his agent were "just friends".

Tim Evans