Why does Runaway Bride feel so off? Why does it produce such halfhearted laughter? This is the sort of Hollywood tale in which everything seems to have been decided by committee.

Cute romantic comedy OK for most older kids.

Runaway Bride is an atrocious bit of by-the-numbers screen filler.

Julia Roberts, as a small-town charmer with a history of breaking off engagements at the altar, and Richard Gere, as a reporter sent to write about her, still deliver a perfectly pleasant rom-com.