Despite coincidences and leaps of faith in logic that would seem implausible even in a James Bond movie, the new romantic comedy Serendipity is a mild charmer that gets decent mileage out of its three main stars.

The film opens at Christmastime in New York City, where Jonathan (John Cusack) meets Sara (Kate Beckinsale) when the two reach for the same pair of gloves in Blooomingdales department store. They connect instantly and Sara, a true believer in destiny, suggests that they put their names and numbers out into the universe, hers inside a book and his on the back of a five dollar bill. If they are truly meant to be together after knowing each other for only a few hours, then they will find these clues and fate will bring them back together.

Flash forward to a few years later. Each is about to marry someone else but they have never forgotten about one another. In the real world, they would just let it go and carry on with their marriage plans. Being that this is a movie, they each set out to find the other person and see if what might have been can still be.

Suspension of disbelief is something that is required when one watches a motion picture. With Serendipity, you're required not only to suspend that disbelief, but also disown and put a voodoo curse on it. In lieu of a fleshed out story and characters, Marc Klein's screenplay is instead chock full of coincidences and situations that are just too much to buy into. If Klein and director Peter Chesholm (Town and Country) had actually taken more time to let the story and characters come to life (the film runs a hair over 90 minutes), the film most likely would have been more endearing and fun. Their work isn't terrible; it's just very slight, all too obvious and rushed.

The lead actors are what make the film worthy of a viewing. Cusack and Beckinsale work quite well together, displaying great onscreen chemistry. Cusack can still bring a lot of life and comic firepower to this type of character, one that he can probably play in his sleep by now. Beckinsale, who seems to have awakened from that cinematic coma known as Pearl Harbor, plays Sara with a nice, easy-going charm.

The two share precious little screen time together, but they make that time count. Jeremy Piven is excellent as Jonathan's best friend who helps him try to find Sara. He works so well off with Cusack that whenever he's onscreen, he steals the film. Eugene Levy, as a Bloomingdales salesman who also helps Jonathan in his quest, also delivers big laughs in his brief appearance.

The other actors in the cast, however, are not as lucky. Bridget Moynahan as Jonathan's fiancé, John Corbett as Sara's beau and Molly Shannon as her best friend, are largely wasted. It has nothing to do with their performances but it does have everything to do with the underwritten characters they are stuck with. In fact, Moynahan and Corbett's characters are so slight that the movie may have actually been better off ditching them altogether.

Serendipity isn't a bad film. It's easy enough to sit through and the leads are appealing, making it a recommended bargain matinee or video rental. However it is a disappointing effort, one that squanders its potential by being in such a hurry to get to a conclusion that will surprise no one.

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