Given the literary conceit behind this movie, I was worried it would as be cheesy and precious, as Hollywood is wont to be when dealing with any version of “A Christmas Carol.” But it wasn’t. In fact, I thought it effectively kept some of the dark undertones of the original tale. If you’ve seen “Scrooged,” you’ll know exactly what to expect. If not, be prepared for something more interesting than a fluffy rom-com.

Like many recent films (e.g. “He’s Just Not That Into You”) this one trades in uncomfortable rather than outright funny moments and wrestles with the problems of modern dating. The overall effect is entertaining, but in a somewhat darker vein than the advertisements would lead you to believe.

I hardly need mention the plot—it’s pretty darned obvious—but here goes: fashion photographer Connor Mead (Matthew McConaughey) is an incorrigible lothario who doesn’t believe in love, even using his long-suffering personal assistant Melanie (Noureen deWulf) to juggle his many girlfriends. Nevertheless, he heads home for his brother Paul’s (Breckin Meyer) wedding to Sandra (Lacey Chabert).

At the rehearsal dinner, Connor runs into old flame Jenny Perotti (Jennifer Garner) and as the evening progresses, he methodically ruins everything for everyone involved in the wedding. At the same time, his dead Uncle Wayne (Michael Douglas) appears and warns Connor that he will be visited by three ghosts.

Lo and behold, he is then haunted by The Ghost of Girlfriends Past, in the form of his first girlfriend Alison (Emma Stone); The Ghost of Girlfriends Present, who looks like his assistant Melanie; and the Ghost of Girlfriends Future (Olga Maliouk), who (true to the original) does not speak at all, but uses silent gestures to warn Connor of the dismal future awaiting him.

All too often, a character like Connor would be lovably flawed but McConaughey (despite his knack for playing likable slackers) doesn’t go for the charm here. Instead, he goes for full-on, emotionally-damaged jerk, a move which is both refreshing and necessary. After all, we need to believe that his character is horrible enough to merit divine intervention.

Connor’s relationship with Jenny is also believably complicated. Garner, despite looking like the girl next door, plays Jenny as a sharp cookie whose only mistake was really falling for Connor. As we see in the flashbacks and present day, Jenny has always called Connor on his BS and this is why he’s always loved her, whether he admits it or not. This makes Connor and Jenny’s dialogue deliciously prickly, and the great chemistry between McConaughey and Garner just adds to the fun.

The rest of the cast is very good. Breckin Meyer is his is usual, likable self as the kid brother, and even gets to show some emotional range when Connor almost ruins the wedding. Michael Douglas hams it up as Uncle Wayne, and Noureen deWulf really makes an impression in her brief appearances as Melanie. Anne Archer has a fantastic bit part as the bride’s cougar mom. Chabert plays the hysterical bride to a tee, which is almost more scary than funny. The various members of the wedding party (crazed father of the bride, randy bridesmaids) are good additions to the ensemble.

So, by all means, see the movie—just don’t go in expecting a laugh-a-minute. And frankly, I’m not sure this is a great date movie despite being advertised as such, mostly because it brings up some very uncomfortable issues about men and women.

In the first place, some of the film’s premises were painfully familiar—not as movie tropes, but from real life. At one point Jenny, a successful doctor, confesses that she’s “always been attracted to assholes,” to which her confidante responds that women always seem to want the challenge of “fixing” these “projects.” And then there’s the fact that every woman Connor has slept with falls madly in love with him. At first, this seemed somewhat incredible. But then I remembered that yes, indeed, I have seen many women torment themselves over jerks, believing they were in love.

The film also makes a valiant attempt to explain why men act like they do. In this case, Connor lost his parents and thus had no positive role models for love; he was also hurt when young Jenny chose to dance with someone else. Part of Connor’s revelation is his admission that fear of getting hurt is at the root of his (and most men’s) awful behavior. As such, one could see in the film a positive attempt to convince men to quit acting like macho jerks. After all, as Connor eventually finds out, “You can’t be afraid to get hurt” and “Regret is a thousand times worse than pain.”

That’s all fine and good, but since one study has shown that rom-coms can adversely affect real-life expectations, I worry that the message for women could go awry. In the end, Jenny turns down Brad (Daniel Sunjata), the handsome Harvard-educated doctor that she would have married (as we see in the “future” haunting) in order to be with the now-reformed Connor. Par for the genre, but I fear that the more impressionable members of the audience will see this as encouragement for their hopes to reform jerks and to “fix” those men who act horrible despite caring.

So ladies, if you ever find yourself in that situation, just make sure you’re dealing with a guy who has already been haunted. Otherwise, I think we can all testify that you’re wasting your breath, and you should go for the nice Harvard doctor.