Check out the trailer for 'People Like Us'

The trailer for this summer's People Like Us (formerly known by the odd title Welcome to People) just hit screens, and I'm optimistic. The subject of the script came up during THR's 2010 Actress Roundtable, where Hilary Swank talked about this movie she really fought to be in. It turned out to be Welcome to the People, and Amy Adams was forced to admit that, actually, she had been offered the part, but turned it down because she thought the role was too intense to play as a new mother. A part that actresses are fighting over? The movie has to be good, right? Elizabeth Banks ended up playing this much-fought-over role, of a woman, now a single mother with a kid who's acting out. Her whole life, she was kept a secret from her father's family.

The trailer's tone reminds me of a Jerry Maguire-type film, actually. There's a blend of comedy and drama, and it's all seemingly well-acted and scripted for great character revelations.

As THR points out, if you watched the trailer with the sound off you may think it's a movie about a budding relationship. That's complicated even further by the fact that Chris Pine plays the woman's brother, who is supposed to give her money bequeathed by their father in his will. Except that he doesn't want to tell her that he's her brother--yet. Given the fact that long-lost relations sometimes feel a powerful sexual attraction when they haven't been around each other their whole lives (It's science!), I'm a little weirded out by the lack of disclosure. Is it possible that this will factor into the plot of a major Hollywood movie, even though the trailer has a line of Pine's character saying "I swear on my life I will never, ever hit on you"? Is that why the actresses were fighting over the meaty role? Realistically, though, distributor Paramount is probably letting Lifetime or an indie tackle that kind of plot twist.

The drama will also be the directing debut of Alex Kurtzman, based on a screenplay he co-wrote with Transformers and Star Trek co-writer Roberto Orci. While I can't determine if People Like Us will succeed in being a heartfelt drama, it already has one point in its favor. It's sold me on its plot contrivance--the inheritance that's bringing these long-lost siblings together.