Director Doug Ellin gambles by casting David Schwimmer (TV’s Friends) and Jason Lee (Chasing Amy) against type and almost breaks even. In Kissing a Fool, Lee plays tortured writer who finds himself falling for his charming editor (Mili Avital). It’s too bad she’s already engaged to his lecherous buddy (Schwimmer). Schwimmer is an unlikely but convincing womanizer. His puppy dog features give him a harmlessness look that makes his character’s occasionally reprehensible behavior easier to stomach. Lee, however, is hopelessly out of his league as a wounded romantic. His flat voice and phony pining make the kinks in the predictable, but intermittently amusing script (by Ellin and James Frey) more apparent. There are some genuinely snappy lines (listen to Schwimmer’s comments about literature), but the absence of a credible leading man make Kissing a Fool’s flaws a lot more memorable than its delights (R). Rating:4.