Tomas is a devastatingly handsome, suave and successful young marketing executive who has a beautiful girlfriend in each of three cities.

And haven't we all been there?

Problem is, each of the ladies believes she's exclusive to Tomas and circumstances conspire to have them converge on Tomas' home in Los Angeles, where they learn the truth.

When Tomas is kidnapped, the anticipated catfight segues predictably into camaraderie among the women, who eventually discover they have more in common than Tomas.

Lighter than air and blisteringly paced, Chasing Papi is an attempt to break a Latino-themed movie out of the art house circuit and bring a high-concept Hollywood romantic comedy to the underserved English-speaking Latino market.

Each of its featured players is a star in Hispanic TV and/or music:

• Sofia Vergara is Cici, the voluptuous dancer.

• Roselyn Sanchez is Lorena, a buttoned-up attorney.

• Jaci Velasquez is Patricia, a spoiled socialite.

• Eduardo Verastegui is Tomas, the poster boy for commitment issues.

Freddy Rodriguez, Joy Enriquez, Diana Maria Rivera, Maria Conchita Alonso, Paul Rodriguez, Sheila E and astrologist Walter Mercado have supporting or cameo roles.

Chasing Papi begins promisingly enough with animated sequences bridging the action. But the Hollywood sheen, alas, extends to the characters, who are clipped from familiar stock and "find themselves" while chasing Papi (the title references "Papi Chulo," which means "my beautiful man" in Latin culture, according to the producers).

The wafer-thin story careens from point to point, eventually landing the ladies onstage dancing at a salsa festival that's funnier than most of what precedes it.

Ultimately, Chasing Papi doesn't catch many laughs. As usual, the funniest sight gag is revealed in the trailer.

It's a laudatory attempt to make a PG-rated comedy that will appeal to adults as well as youngsters and to gear a mainstream movie to a lamentably ignored segment of the market.

According to The Hollywood Reporter, the industry is watching Chasing Papi's box office numbers as a gauge for other Latino-themed projects. That's way too much import to ascribe to this piffle of a project.

Chasing Papi gets its foot in the door. Now it's up to someone else to make a better movie.