When Harry met Sally, they spent a two-day road trip learning to despise each other and the next nine years learning to love each other. When Emily met Oliver on a six-hour plane ride to New York, she shoved him into the bathroom and proceeded to inaugurate him into the mile-high club. Later, they exchanged names.

And so begins the tumultuous relationship of Oliver and Emily in Nigel Cole’s “A Lot Like Love,” a story about two young idiots in love — so perfect for each other they can’t possibly make it work.

When Oliver, played surprisingly well by Ashton Kutcher, spots Emily, played equally well by Amanda Peet, it’s love at first sight. He’s shy, dopey and a little insecure — she’s outrageous and pretentiously rebellious. As fate would have it, they bump into each other again in New York, and after slamming a handful of shots and a pitcher of beer at 2 p.m., they spend the rest of the day running around the city, snapping pictures and falling perfectly in love. When he tries to initiate the obligatory “Can I see you again?” dance, she stops him.

“Don’t,” she says “You’ll ruin it.”

Without a doubt, “A Lot Like Love” is female-oriented film — OK, fine, it’s a chick flick. But there’s something different about this one versus recent chick flicks like “The Wedding Date.” There are no perfect one-liners, and a lot of the time, the characters say just the wrong thing. They’re not hilariously charming, and they don’t share an impossibly perfect moment that could never happen to a real couple. Instead, everything that happens to them is so imperfect — the way they sing, the way their picture gets messed up, the way she’s getting drunk and passing out right when they should be making perfect love — the film winds up a surprisingly refreshing experience.

What is perfect about the film is the pairing of Peet and Kutcher, whose chemistry is so captivating that the love between their characters seems very tangible. Trailers for the film vastly misrepresent Kutcher, who proves he has talent beyond slamming doors on “That ’70s Show” and publicly humiliating various celebrities.

He is quietly intense, and despite his impossibly good looks, presents himself with humility and modesty. Kutcher’s surprising performance is but one facet of a delightful film. Though it fails to elude the undeniable and unfortunate title of chick flick, “A Lot Like Love” will be a refreshing treat for anyone in love with that perfectly imperfect person.