I suppose when they looked at the concept on paper for My Mom’s New Boyfriend, it seemed like a winner. After all, you have Meg Ryan and Antonio Bandaras, who are both bankable, as well as Colin Hanks and Selma Blair, two promising up-and-comers. You have a bit of a Meet the Parents-in-reverse plot going on. What could go wrong, right?

More than you might imagine. Even though he’s the son of Tom Hanks, one of the most bankable stars in Hollywood, Colin’s not quite seasoned enough to carry a picture and much of the weight of this movie falls on his young shoulders. That’s not to say he won’t eventually grow into the kind of star who can carry a movie; it just means he’s not there yet.

Blair does her best in a very limited role as the love interest for Hanks who only wants him to stop obsessing about his mom and show her some attention; she’s capable and turns in a solid performance without much to work with.

Meanwhile, Meg Ryan, star of nearly every romantic comedy ever made since When Harry Met Sally, is not given much better treatment; stuck in an obvious fat-suit that borders on the insulting rather than the realistic at the start of the movie, Ryan is given a role that is written to make her seem a bit dunce-like, rather than like a mom who’s just cutting loose now that she’s lost weight and looks good again.

Antonio Banderas does well with his role as a thief trying to blend into society to avoid arrest, as well as the wooer of Ryan. As soon as they connect, they may not be checking into hotel deals, but they’re not far from it. The chemistry works well enough and both actors pull off decent takes on their whirlwind romance, however ill-contrived.

For a chick-flick romantic comedy, however, My Mom’s New Boyfriend is something of a guy’s movie because only the men’s roles seem to have any complexity or depth; whether it’s Ryan or Blair, the women in this film get paper-thin characterizations and never really grow over the course of the film.

The blame for the mess has to fall on George Gallo, who both wrote and directed the movie. It would have been nice to see just what this movie might have become with Nora Ephron on the script and Rob Reiner directing.

The one surreal quality of the flick surfaces whenever Hanks and Ryan share screen time; it was only 15 years ago that Ryan was starring opposite Colin’s father, Tom Hanks, in their best film together, Sleepless In Seattle. Now, watching son Colin share screen time with Ryan as his mom gives the film a certain “circle of life” moment, as well as serving to make a person feel old.

Unfortunately, “My Mom’s New Boyfriend” never really takes advantage of the talents of its decent cast, and so what might have been a memorable movie is reduced to bargain-bin fodder. Which is really too bad.