Return to Me
***
Rated on a 4-star
scale
Screening venue: Odeon (Brombourough)
Released in the UK by Fox on June 9, 2000; certificate PG; 116 minutes; country
of origin USA; aspect ratio 1.85:1
Directed by Bonnie Hunt; produced by
Jennie Lew Tugend. Written by Bonnie Hunt, Don Lake.
Photographed by Laszlo Kovacs; edited by Garth
Craven.
CAST.....
David Duchovny..... Bob Rueland
Minnie Driver..... Grace Briggs
Carroll O'Connor..... Marty O'Reilly
Robert Loggia..... Angelo Pardipillo
Bonnie Hunt..... Megan Dayton
James Belushi..... Joe Dayton
David Alan Grier..... Charlie Johnson
Joely Richardson..... Elizabeth Rueland
Eddie Jones..... Emmett McFadden
"Return to Me" stars David Duchovny
as Bob, a Chicago architect whose wife has passed away, and Minnie Driver
as Grace, a waitress who has inherited the woman's heart. The pair are not
aware of their connection when they meet, and begin dating. Grace stumbles
on the information late on in the film, and it becomes a dilemma -- how should
she tell her lover?
This is an out-there idea for romantic comedy,
but at least it's not a frivolous predicament for the characters. Most rom-coms
are full of those -- the couples we're supposed to be engaged by do a lot
of stupid philosophising about love, and further reveal their stupidity by
bickering over the most trivial of things. Grace and Bob are simply two lonely
people who enjoy each other's company -- he married his first love, who is
now gone; she's never been able to enjoy a serious relationship, because
her heart condition has kept her under lock and key. They are attracted to
each other, they're good-natured people who treat each other well... and
there you have it.
This is simplistic, but that's how love stories
should be. "Return to Me" features modern settings, issues and dialogue,
but a charmingly old-fashioned aura: Sinatra croons on the soundtrack, the
colourful old geezers in Grace's Irish-Italian restaurant provide cute Greek
chorus-style comic relief, and the sweet pair fall for each other in soft-focus.
Bonnie Hunt, an actress making her directorial debut, has not shot her picture
in a very slick or modern way, and so we don't feel like we're going on the
traditional trajectory of contemporary romantic comedies, which let us set
our watch by every development. The film is hardly original, but it's derivative
in an interesting way, by being as influenced by its genre companions of
the 1950s as much as those from the 90s.
"Return to Me" is a precious, gentle movie with
one major flaw: the first 25 minutes needlessly take us through the backstories
of Duchovny's wife and Driver's condition, when this stuff would be more
powerful if left offscreen, as history imparted to us in dialogue. But never
mind. It's worth noting, incidentally, that the film's best moments come
in the scenes of domestic fluff starring Hunt and James Belushi, who are
two of my favourite comic actors. The way they joke about each other's bodies,
lay the dinner table, and put their kids to bed are down-to-earth in such
an entertaining way that if there's a sequel it can leave the young couple
alone and concentrate on their friends.
COPYRIGHT© 2000 Ian
Waldron-Mantgani
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