LITTLE BLACK BOOK BY BROOKE HOLGERSON

Dirty tricks might be acceptable in politics, but in romantic comedies, they’re still detestable. Nonetheless, Nick Hurran’s Little Black Book makes the Nixonian argument that it’s okay to snoop around in your boyfriend’s life — checking out his Palm Pilot, erasing messages from his answering machine — as long as the end justifies your actions. Brittany Murphy plays the associate producer of a Jerry Springer–esque talk show whose seemingly perfect relationship with Ron Livingston starts to crumble when she pokes around in his private life. It isn’t her snooping that ruins the relationship but rather what she discovers when she uses her TV credentials to persuade her boyfriend’s exes to tell her about their past while not disclosing that she’s dating him. Murphy tries way too hard to make her character sweet and charming despite her deceptions, but she ends up merely cloying, and Holly Hunter, as Murphy’s co-worker, squanders her talent on material that should be beneath her. As for Ron Livingston, who’s the best reason to see this movie, he spends most of the film off screen. This Little Black Book should remain a secret. (105 minutes) At theApple Valley, Entertainment, Flagship, Holiday, Providence Place 16, Showcase, and Tri-Boro cinemas.