As a book, The Time Traveler’s Wife charmed millions with its tale of doomed love, but the fantastical premise will make the movie a challenge for some viewers to follow. Eric Bana stars as Henry, a research librarian who suffers from a genetic disorder that makes him disappear suddenly, and then reappear at some other point in time. This makes maintaining his marriage to artist Clare (Rachel McAdams) really emotionally difficult for the both of them. For example, Henry first meets Clare at a library when they are in their twenties, but Clare sees Henry initially when she is 6 and he is 38 because that’s the age Harry is when he first travels to that time in the past. Although the adult couple are happy when they’re together, Clare often grows despondent because she never knows when Henry will disappear, or for how long. Eventually, hints of Henry’s death begin to appear, forcing the couple to appreciate every second they have together.

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Trying to reinvent the romantic comedy is like trying to reinvent the wheel — highly ambitious, but nearly impossible to execute. Such is the case with The Ugly Truth, the latest Katherine Heigl vehicle, which falls back on an all too familiar story: Type-A career woman meets crass, rough-around-the-edges man-child, they do the love-hate tango, and in the end realize they’re perfect for each other.

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In her romantic comedies, Sandra Bullock traditionally plays the wacky free spirit or the earnest do-gooder. She’s the force of nature who gets the uptight Ben Affleck to loosen his tie, or the environmental activist who softens up a callous Hugh Grant. The Proposal tries to break new ground by having Bullock take on the role of the Type A — the queen-bitch big-city professional who needs to relax. And it works, kind of. It turns out that Bullock playing against type is the only original thing going on in the whole film.

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If you know your con-game movies, then you’re familiar with the differences between short cons and long cons. The short con is all about making a quick buck — like getting a bartender to give you change for a 20, when you really paid with a 10. Long cons, on the other hand, require months, if not years, of setup, and come with a payoff to match. They also make for timeless movies like The Sting, The Grifters, House of Games, and Tony Gilroy’s Duplicity. Like those other time-tested con movies, Duplicity is about more than just lying, deceit, and trickery — the story’s mind games also serve as a metaphor for bigger issues — in this case, love. In the opening scene, Ray Koval (Clive Owen) seduces Claire Stenwick (Julia Roberts) at a cocktail party thrown by the government of Dubai. Their passionate night together ends with him drugged, and her taking pictures of some sensitive documents in his possession — and thus begins a most unusual courtship between people who inherently mistrust everyone around them. It would be just plain wrong to reveal much more about the plot, but years later, the two end up on opposite sides of some serious corporate espionage, and their time together in the past has more of an effect on their present than anyone — the characters or the audience — really understands.

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A romantic comedy just as benign and generic as its instantly forgettable title suggests, New in Town may be a simplistic reworking of rom-com script number 42B, yet much like Blanche Gunderson’s “nothing fancy” meatloaf, it has a certain Midwestern charm that settles calmly in the stomach, making the viewer feel warm, comfortable, and quick to smile.

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During one pivotal moment of revelation in David Koepp’s Ghost Town, dentist and insufferable prick Bertram Pincus (brilliantly played by Ricky Gervais) gazes at a poster of Albert Einstein with the quote, “Only a life lived for others is a life worth while.” And, though Pincus cynically dismisses the quote for its inauspicious placement on a novelty poster, it becomes immediately apparent to the viewer watching the film that Ghost Town is, in fact, the feature-length incarnation of one of those inspirational posters that clutter the bargain bins of drug stores everywhere.

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Gone Baby Gone: Ben Affleck directs Casey Affleck in this well-received drama that I can only assume was scored by Ulysses Affleck and catered by Geppetto Affleck.

Martian Child: If you loved K-Pax, then this one is for you, Mrs. Spacey.

We Own the Night: Probably the closest I’ll ever get to realizing my dream of watching Marky Mark of the Funky Bunch duet with Johnny Cash.

Tyler Perry’s Why Did I Get Married: Writer/director/producer/actor/gaffer Perry performs out of women’s clothing opposite Janet Jackson. [Insert 3-year-old Super Bowl joke]

Also out this week: No Reservations, The Amateurs and Becoming Jane

The Brave One: Jodie Foster stars as a vigilante bent on avenging her boyfriend’s death in this film that John Hinckley Jr. gave “two thumbs way up!”

2 Days in Paris: Actor/director Julie Delpy’s indie romantic-comedy was warmly received by critics, but disappointed theatergoers who mistook it for a sequel to One Night in Paris.

The Ten Commandments: At long last, the cross-section of animated religious epic aficionados and Christian Slater fanatics has a movie to call their own.

The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford: There’s a scene in this where a horse walks into a bar. The bartender sees him and asks, “why the long face… and title… and movie?”

Also out: Elizabeth - The Golden Age, Feast of Love, Across the Universe and Descent.