A Lot Like Love is a 2005 American romantic comedy-drama film directed by Nigel Cole and starring Ashton Kutcher and Amanda Peet. The screenplay by Colin Patrick Lynch focuses on two individuals whose relationship slowly evolves from lust to friendship to romance over the course of seven years. Plot Constructed as a series of chapters that take place at a turning point in each character's life, the story moves from seven years in the past, to three years, to two, and finally arrives in the present day. Emily Friehl and Oliver Martin's first encounter is on a flight from Los Angeles to New York City. Impulsive, she jumps him in the restroom. Later she's aloof, but they cross paths again in the city and they spend a bit of time walking around, taking random shots with his camera. Oliver hopes of becoming an Internet entrepreneur and, certain of his future success, gives Emily his mother's phone number. He suggests she call him in six years to see if his prediction came true. Three years later, facing the prospect of spending New Year's Eve alone as she's just been dumped, Emily finds Oliver's number as she's rifling through her little address book. She calls him, and they meet for dinner. Emily takes him to a big New Years party with her friends. Seeing her most recent ex, she gets really drunk and leaves with Oliver. She passes out, but she wakes in the morning; he's already left for San Francisco. Thus starts a series of reunions with the passing of time, as each drifts in and out of relationships with others. Oliver and his business partner Jeeter develop their on-line diaper service, and Emily becomes a successful photographer. Each time they meet they take turns, where one appears to be settled and content while the other is struggling to make headway in both life and career. Eventually, they come to the realization that each is exactly the person the other one needs for fulfillment. A few years later, Emily gets engaged, but she still has feelings for Oliver. The night before she's meant to move in with her fiancé, after developing an old roll of film of when she met Oliver, she breaks it off. Then, her sister later sees Oliver at the drapers, getting fitted for a tux, and thinks he's getting married. Upset, Emily goes to track down Oliver,