‘Runaway Bride’ Has Just Enough Good Stuff

Normally, I like Richard Gere the way I like blue cheese - just a tiny bit and, preferably, on the side. Gere’s an OK actor within a limited range (aloof, self-involved prigs are his forte), but he usually comes off as arrogant, and there’s rarely any believable interaction with his co-stars.

He is at his most likable and least smug in “Runaway Bride,” though, to the extent that he actually seems to notice there are other people in the movie. It must be Julia Roberts who does it for him - their chemistry was the only decent thing in “Pretty Woman,” and it works again in the smarter, friendlier “Runaway Bride.”

Roberts plays commitment-phobic Maggie, who is about to attempt marriage after three previous trips down the altar led to her bolting before the knot could be tied. Ike (Gere), a journalist, decides to write about her nuptial mania and, since Gere and Roberts are the stars of this romantic comedy, it won’t surprise you to learn that he begins imagining himself on the receiving end of her “I do’s.”

Like most movie romances, the one in “Runaway Bride” isn’t especially believable - a volume of Yeats poetry is hanging around whenever Gere and Roberts are together and that’s supposed to convince us that we’ve seen them falling in love. Still, the actors have a lot of charisma (especially Roberts, who had a sturdier vehicle - and a less smirk-prone partner - in this year’s “Notting Hill”) and they make you believe in their ability to get people to fall for them.

But the real reason “Runaway Bride” works is that it has more going for it than the stars. Up until an eighth-inning lull, director Garry Marshall (“Pretty Woman’)’ keeps things humming at such a speedy clip that you barely notice the plot contrivances (like the only-believable-if-you’re-from-Hollywood idea that a small town would have a quartet singing barbershop songs on the street at every hour of the day or night).

“Runaway Bride” has the courage to follow through on its premise. Most Hollywood movies would set up the situation and use it for laughs, without exploring what lies beneath it. But “Runaway Bride” is actually interested in why Maggie has an itchy ring finger, as well as how that makes her feel, and it ends up having something to say about trusting your instincts and pursuing your dreams.

“The Runaway Bride” Location: Cheney Cinemas, Lincoln Heights, Newport, Spokane Valley Mall, Post Falls Cinema, Showboat. Credits: Directed by Garry Marshall, starring Julia Roberts and Richard Gere. Running Time: 1:51. Rating: Pg-13.