It's easy to see where the story will go from there -- first, the revelation that Charlie has deceived her, followed by his having to convince her that his feelings for her are genuine. But making a movie that honors the conventions and structure of romantic comedy is not the same thing as making a picture that's rote. And Ireland has delight on his side, the delight he takes in the setting and the delight he takes in actors. At times you wish Sofia Milos had gone for broke, pushing both the way Celia's bottled-up feelings come spilling out and the comedy of the role she's conceived for herself as permanent grieving widow. She can seem more ordinary than her ravishing looks seem to allow for. But she's got tremendous self-possession and a bearing that's both offhand and near regal. And those work in the character's favor, capturing the task Charlie has in front of him if he's to break down her defenses.

The real acting story of "Passionada" is Jason Isaacs. Playing Lucius Malfoy in the two "Harry Potter" movies and Mel Gibson's evil Redcoat nemesis in "The Patriot," Isaacs seemed a sort of matinee-idol villain, not getting to express much beyond sneering good looks. He's softer here, more relaxed. There's something becoming about watching an actor as handsome as Isaacs play a good-natured screw-up. The smile he gets to flash, and the almost palpable longing he radiates when looking at Milos, are very becoming. They lighten him as an actor, give him an air of playfulness he's never gotten to show on-screen. You get to enjoy a romantic lead who's both a bit of a rogue and one in whom love feeds the desire to be a better man. He doesn't overplay the former or sentimentalize the latter. It's a charming performance.

The third major character is Celia's teenage daughter Vicky, played by Emmy Rossum. She runs into Charlie at the casino one night and strikes a deal with him: She'll help him woo Celia (she's sick of her mother's cloistered-widow routine) if he teaches her how to count cards. Rossum has certainly progressed beyond the calculated cuteness she showed in "Songcatcher." Wide-eyed and with something of a manic streak, Rossum might raise some serious hell if she is ever unleashed in a full-bodied comic role. She's still a little too eager here, pushing herself instead of allowing us to come to her. But her exchanges with Milos, and the way she tries to cross the line between daughter and friend with Celia, have a convincing ring.

Ireland's sure touch with the actors is apparent in the small roles as well. As Celia's mother-in-law, Lupe Ontiveros ("Real Women Have Curves") at first appears to be set up to play the life-force old ethnic mama. But she resists that cliché and comes across as someone with hard-headed good sense. Seymour Cassel, as he's shown in some of his recent roles (particularly in "The Sleepy Time Gal") has attained the appeal of an actor who's perfectly comfortable in his own skin. There's a lovely moment, as he sits by his pool and his wife cuddles against him, when he looks like a happy old walrus who can imagine no greater pleasure. And Ireland even tamps down the usually actressy Theresa Russell, who acts here in a recognizably human range. She's particularly good in the scene where she visits Celia to plead Charlie's case. And Ireland has given her a terrific sight gag: After piling into a diner later at night with Cassel and Isaacs, she nonchalantly takes a miniature bar set out of her bag and lovingly mixes her husband a martini.

There's a certain type of comedy that gives the audience the satisfaction of wish-fulfillment without sacrificing the gentle irony of how things unfold. Every character in "Passionada" winds up in a better, happier place by the end of the movie, and Ireland makes you laugh at how well fate has worked, even as you enjoy seeing the characters happily paired off. It may sound like faint praise to call a movie pleasant, but when it's as good-hearted and assured as "Passionada" is, when a filmmaker trusts the audience to respond to its charms instead of pushing phony charm on them (the movie is not "My Big Fat Portuguese Widowhood"), when a movie has a sense of place that is both delicate and enormous, you can leave the theater feeling flattered as well as delighted. Ireland is a genuine charmer. Coming at the end of a rotten summer for movies, "Passionada" is like being handed a glass of cool, clear water when for weeks you've been asked to swill bilge.

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