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Anyone remember the NBC dramedy, Ed? It was that goofy but lovable show produced by David Lettermen’s Worldwide Pants, about a guy who moves back to his hometown after a messy divorce to try and win the heart of his secret high school crush, and bought a bowling alley, opening his law practice in the same alley? Yeah, goofy concept. Even goofier was supporting actor Michael Ian Black, who played one of Ed’s self-aggrandizing employees at the bowling alley.

Well, turns out Mr. Black isn’t just a goofball after all; he’s become a director as well and, by the look of things with Wedding Daze, not a bad one. The movie is a bit of a Dharma and Greg concept about two strangers who decide to get married before even knowing each other’s names, but Black’s direction steers clear of the ABC comedy’s obvious tread marks and attempts to take the concept down fresher, less well-trodden paths.

The result is a successful comedy of errors that excels in areas where Good Luck Chuck went blue instead of finding its funny bone. Starring American Pie alum, the appealing Jason Biggs, opposite newcomer Audra Blaser, Biggs plays a depressed guy. Why? Well, he proposed to his girlfriend in public, in a Cupid costume no less, and so surprises her that she has a heart attack and dies on the spot.

A year later, Biggs’ character (Anderson) is still depressed; he’s haunted by the memory of his fiancée-to-be, forgetting her flaws and making it impossible for him to move on. A friend if his tries to get him back on the dating field again, which he doesn’t want to do, but agrees to reluctantly to get the guy off his back. On a whim, he proposes to a waitress at the diner he’s at with his buddy, expecting her to laugh him off so he can get back to mourning. But she shocks him – and herself – by saying yes; mostly because she was considering a proposal from a boyfriend she wasn’t all that into and it provides a convenient escape.

Despite being a bit derivative, the film is good-natured PG-13 fare that stays watchable throughout. Of course, there’s the occasional out-of-nowhere punchline about CAT5e’s, snowblowers or what have you, but that seems to be Black’s style; he not only directed, but wrote the script as well.

Wedding Daze originated as a made-for-TV film, and has been known by other titles such as The Pleasure of Your Company and The Next Girl I See, but whatever its title, it came as a welcome respite in the recent storm of gross-out, sex-obsessed comedies that have been hitting shelves of late.

Although it was released by LionsGate, which made its reputation in Hollywood by releasing hard R/borderline NC-17 material, the studio’s latest DVD release, Midnight Clear, based on the book by Christian author Jerry B. Jenkins is a bit of a surprise. There is no explosion of violent blood and gore being spilled, no flesh-filled scenes of passion between taboo lovers, and no endless strings of profanity, as is often the case with LionsGate material.

Instead, we are treated to a quiet human drama of the movie-of-the-week variety, a Hallmark Channel-style drama about a small ensemble of characters whose lives intersect on Christmas Eve in ways that are unexpected, minor and yet critical. The cast is headlined by Stephen Baldwin, the “born again” Baldwin brother of reality show fame, who manages to turn in a credible performance. He plays a man down on his luck, drinking his regrets and bitterness away in Riedel wine glasses and tempted with the thought of taking his anger out of the world that seems to conspire against him, imagining a shower of violence.

Other characters struggle with their own issues, like having a car break down on a night in which they absolutely need to get home, or the tale of the disheartened youth pastor, saddled with taking the teens around Christmas caroling despite believing such efforts are unwelcome and make no difference. The tale, a bit of a play on the Pay It Forward concept, shows that one simple act of being nice to a stranger can change everyone’s fate.

The positive message never gets too preachy or too religious, meaning that it’s a faith movie that even non-faith-based folks might be able to stomach, provided they don’t mind movies with a cautiously optimistic, hopeful message. While the film is entertaining, though, be warned that it is a bare-bones DVD at best. You get a basic audio commentary, a minor “making of” documentary and that’s about it. It’s not the least feature-rich DVD I’ve watched lately, but it’s certainly not that impressive.