Ever see a movie just swerve into a ditch?

Management is like watching people you like get into a car, close the doors, drive off and plunge over a cliff.

One of the people is played by Jennifer Aniston, reminding us that beneath all the sitcom stuff (good and bad) and paint-by-numbers romantic comedies, there actually is an actress.

Given inspired direction, she's capable of creating thinking, human people onscreen. Stephen Belber, whose debut as a director this is, has helped her do just that...at least in his direction. As a writer, he over plots here; throws too many obstacles in his stars' way.

All the obstacles (and conflict) these two people need are built into their characters. It is evident that the spinning out corporate career woman Aniston plays really likes Steve Zahn's blindly optimistic loser.

Not because it's in the script--or at least, not just because of that--and she has to, but because the characters have real chemistry. (This, as the Supreme Court once said about porn, is something I may not be able to define, but I know when I see it.)

But Aniston's character is stuck between security and romance, and Zahn needs to make something work for himself. Get it? Ok, so in the early parts of this movie, like just over the first half, it "manages" (sorry) to get past a lot of places where it could've misfired.

It's a bit like watching Indiana Jones trying not to put a foot wrong as he raids the ancient temple. Zahn's performance helps a lot in keeping him from being creepy stalker guy, but what really puts it over is Aniston's reaction to him.

One of the reasons her performance is so good in this section, is that we see her taking each step carefully in her mind, weighing the risks and consequences of letting herself be touched (emotionally) by and touching this goofy man.

But the more I write about this, the more I think I'm finding that I really didn't like this movie. The reason is that, like some heart tease, just as you've put your trust into it...the movie betrays you.

Worse, it betrays itself....no worse yet, it betrays those characters, by suddenly turning their story into...well, into a bad sitcom, paint-by-numbers romantic comedy. It becomes the kind of movie you want to pick up and shake, in hopes that all the bad parts will somehow magically fall away.

Chief among these: Woody Harrelson, who is miscast in the first place, and whose character should've been cut from the movie altogether in the second place. He plays the Aniston's character's ex-boyfriend, to whom she returns when she's in the "I really like the Steve Zahn character, but of course I can't be with him" stage.

I swear I almost fell asleep just typing that sentence.

We know he's not a real threat, we never get the sense that Aniston even likes him. So all the while he's onscreen, we're just thinking "Yeahyeahyeahyeahyeahyeahyeah, get back to Aniston and Zahn, I want to see those characters keep on holding each other's hands!"

Eventually, of course, we do, but only after way too many things just "happen" to fall into place. Some of the "twists" of the script would've seemed unrealistic in a Muppet movie.

And it goes from being a beautiful song to a lie.