Perhaps it’s Cameron Diaz’s presence, but The Sweetest Thing reeks of screenwriter Nancy Pimental, director Roger Kumble, and countless studio execs slavishly trying to one-up the sticky-icky quotient in Hollywood comedies post-There’s Something About Mary. Here Diaz plays a club girl who likes to squeeze guys’ asses at the hottest spot in town. Watch out, boys, she’ll chew you up. But wouldn’t you know it — behind the fun façade is a sweet person who just fears commitment. So when she meets Great Guy (Thomas Jane), the "learning process" begins. Joined by partying pal Christina Applegate (usually dressed in cleavage-revealing business suits), Diaz sets off to track Great Guy down at what she thinks is his brother’s wedding (oh is she in for a surprise!).

The journey is wacky fun — way too wacky. Diaz and Applegate exude energy, and though that offsets the lameness of the script, it also wipes out any possibility of small comic moments. At one point, the two hop around and giggle so hard about wearing granny underwear that there’s no laughter left for the audience. Selma Blair, as the third friend, has more success in a quieter performance, though she’s left front-and-center for a gross-out scene that turned at least one movie theater virtually silent.