At a swank Manhattan restaurant, relationship consultant Alex Hitchens meets with a potential client. The guy turns out to be the kind of cad the Date Doctor, as Hitch is known in urban myth, doesn't take on.

"My clientele actually like women," says Hitch, played with such relaxed charisma by Will Smith that the actor could contend for the mantle of a modern-day Cary Grant, albeit a slightly goofier version.

In a dialogue-driven movie boasting the kind of banter Smith handles expertly, Hitch's put-down line could easily have gotten lost. Yet it's not just Hitch's slick but fundamentally decent philosophy that it speaks to: The movie also wants to be in tune with women, without selling out the menfolk.

In this fun though hardly memorable romantic comedy (written by first-timer Kevin Birsch), this desire means Hitch dispenses a bevy of appealing aphorisms to bumbling fellas about first kisses, third dates and that special look that could mean "get away from me now or try harder, stupid." They sound good right before they turn to dust. And early in the film, a couple of Hitch's tricks of the love trade seem to border on stalker-lite.

Still, Hitch's track record is phenomenal. Snapshots of average guys with knockout gals - heartfelt thanks scrawled on them - are pinned on the office wall in his Tribeca loft.

His latest hard case is accountant Albert Brennaman (Kevin James), who has fallen for heiress Allegra Cole (supermodel Amber Valletta).

"You aim for the fences," Hitch tells Albert when they meet. (Credit James' ridiculously sweet slapstick and nice gams for making it so easy to root for the improbable.)

James swings from klutziness to bouts of confidence, which Hitch has warned against. Credit the comic's buoyancy with the fact that in the end, Albert strikes us as more deserving of Allegra than Paul Giamatti's nebbishy Miles is of Virginia Madsen's character in "Sideways."

The business of love is a tricky one - maybe not even a business at all. And when Hitch meets gossip columnist Sara Melas (Eva Mendes) the movie's motto becomes: Consultant, consult thyself.

Mendes ("Training Day," "Out of Time") is becoming one of the go-to women to play love interests. No wonder: She and her character hold their own alongside Smith and Hitch.

All of this setup is obvious romantic-comedy territory. The gay co-worker, the high-strung best friend and the compassionate boss all add to the film's "haven't I seen you somewhere before?" vibe.

And yet "Hitch," directed by Andy Tennant ("Sweet Home Alabama"), manages time and again to deliver familiar notes that it then jazzes up.

This self-awareness is most apparent early in the movie, when Hitch is dispensing yet another homily on courtship. Right about the time you balk, thinking "Yeah, this works for you pal, you're Will Smith" the movie goes flashback on us. You see, Hitch was once a fumbling Poindexter himself. Sure it's silly - but it's a nice narrative intervention just the same.

Hitch and Sara inhabit a Manhattan of $15 martinis, Prada and Yves St. Laurent. We never know how much he charges his clients for his services, which suggests that if you have to ask love's cost, you can't afford it.

Too often the romantic comedy rises or sags on the chemistry of its leads. But there is a different alchemy of pleasure writers must heed, and Birsch does a promising job.

When Hitch takes Sara, the granddaughter of immigrants, to Ellis Island, we know what's up. Yet the scene catches us off guard a couple of different ways, both of them satisfying. It's a "push us, pull us" tease, one that keeps "Hitch" entertaining.

TITLE: "Hitch"DIRECTOR: Andy TennantCAST: Will Smith, Eva Mendes, Kevin James, Amber VallettaRATED: PG-13 (language, some strong sexual references)GRADE: * * * ½ (on a scale of 5)