With
Return To Me, actress Bonnie Hunt makes a directorial debut that is every bit
as winning as any character she's ever played. Return to Me is a wonderful romantic
comedy that, despite it's predictability, manages to succeed on just about every
level.
David
Duchovny (X-Files) beautifully sheds his usual one-note persona as an architect
whose wife passes away. Minnie Driver (Good Will Hunting) is absolutely charming
as a good-natured waitress who becomes the new woman of Duchovny's affection.
Needless to say, there is an important aspect of the plot that I'm leaving out,
but to reveal it would take away from part of this film's magic.
Although
this film touches on themes of fate (Sleepless in Seattle, You've Got Mail etc.)
and many will, no doubt, find parts of the film hard to swallow, Hunt shows a
gift for this material and displays an enormous amount of trust with her actors.
The great ensemble includes Duchovny, Driver, David Allen Grier, Bonnie Hunt,
James Belushi, Caroll O'Connor and Robert Loggia.
Unlike
the recent Keeping the Faith, Return to Me is an old fashioned romantic comedy
that really works, and I challenge anyone to walk out of the theater without a
big smile on their face.
