Though the skies are often sunny in this mostly contrived rendering of love Los Angeles-style, creativity is a little cloudy.

“Valentine’s Day” is an adoring ode to the day itself, a multitude of criss-crossing characters the pawns in the overlapping and frequently mushy storylines. That the film manages to have several choice moments amidst the vast simplicity helps much.

The film covers the lives and loves of numerous L.A. characters, and how love enchants them, fools them, leaves them heartbroken and prompts their unlikely rejuvenation. Sometimes, all of these things happen to a single character, lending to the overkill. It all happens on Valentine’s Day, played up as an almost religious holiday, at least for those who worship romance —- and flowers and sticky candy and the like.

Ashton Kutcher plays Reed, a florist at the center of the romance storm, mostly, finding himself engaged to his work-obsessed girlfriend (Jessica Alba). Reed counsels his close pal Julia (Jennifer Garner) to just go for it regarding her new love, a doctor played by Patrick Dempsey. When Reed finds out the good doctor is actually married, he finds himself in a quandary on whether or not to tell. Meanwhile, Julia survives the day with her unruly grade-school students, who enjoy their own pre-dating rituals.

Many of these luminaries will — not unlike real-life Hollywood — play musical chairs on one fateful Valentine’s Day. Cynicism will be defeated and love will triumph. Teenage sex will be treated fearfully. The kindness of airline workers will be relied on to fathom the importance of a dramatic moment. But — gasp! — who is our unlikely homosexual couple?

To say that “Valentine’s Day” is overstuffed would be an understatement. Not only does it ooze stars like clowns spilling out of a clown car, but it’s gauzily wrapped in roses and red-and-white cards.

To his credit, director Garry Marshall juggles the many overlapping story lines successfully, though “Valentine’s Day” is obviously strained by the excess. Marshall is a funny man who has, in a long career, made some beloved movies (”Pretty Woman”) and some lamentable ones (”Runaway Bride”).

The screenplay by Katherine Fugate, working from a story by her, Abby Kohn and Marc Silverstein, has obvious similarity to 2003’s “Love Actually” but little of the wit. Most successful is the chemistry between Grace and Hathaway, but with so many swings, that’s a pretty low batting average.

“Valentine’s Day” is exactly what it professes to be: an overdose of sentimentality. You certainly can’t mistake it, as one confused 5th grader in the film does, for anything related to the St. Valentine’s Day Massacre. But the reference is enough to make you wish for “Scarface,” or, if love is still on the menu, “Some Like It Hot.”

“Valentine’s Day,” a New Line release, is rated PG-13 for some sexual material and brief partial nudity. Running time: 121 minutes. One and a half stars out of four.

Worlds collide as the connections are drawn between these characters, but never too forcefully. The film retains its optimism even when things look bleak, and that’s the whole point —- that somehow, the magic of love and this particular day will iron out the deepest wrinkles in the romantic fabric. Going along with this takes some patience, though some sparkling performances, especially those from Garner, Hathaway and the reliable veteran Hector Elizondo, go a long way to save the day (barely), a very particular day in “Valentine’s Day.”