Return to Me: Gimmicky is good
by Michael Alian, Outpost Staff
|
David Duchovny and Minnie Driver are joined together by unlikely circumstances in "Return to Me." Courtesy: MGM |
Most of us make the trek to the cineplex to see the unbelievable. That's just what you'll see when you check out "Return to Me."
The gimmicky story is unbelievable. But is that so bad?
Not at all.
So what's the "Return to Me" slant on your typical romantic comedy?
The story begins with a happily married Bob (David Duchovny) and his Chicago zoologist wife (Joely Richardson). But that bliss is shattered when Bob's wife dies in a car accident.
All is not lost when she dies.
Enter Grace (Minnie Driver). She's been waiting to receive a heart transplant. Bob's dying wife delivers.
Bob and Grace meet a year later. She's a waitress in her family's Irish-Italian restaurant,O'Reilly's. When the pair meets, Bob is on a disastrous blind date along with his friend Charlie (David Alan Grier). This scene is hilarious. The banter and flirting between Duchovny and Driver is sprinkled with a nice touch of sarcasm. It's not only cute, it shows there's a real chemistry between Driver and Duchovny. While this chemistry tends to wane throughout "Return to Me," Driver's compelling and rather cutsie performance really makes you believe the pair is in love. Driver is an astounding actress. Seeing "Return to Me" makes me believe that even more.
"Return
to Me"
The colorful supporting characters in "Return to Me"
makes it worth the trip to the theater. Carroll O'Connor
plays Driver's irish grandfather. He plays this part well.
Even if you're not an O'Connor fan, you'll flip for his
tender side. It's good therapy for those of us who despised
his Archie Bunker character in the 1970s TV show "All in the
Family."
Rated PG
1 hour 56 minutes
MGM
O'Connor's character and Driver's Italian uncle (Robert Loggia) paint a picture of a time past. A time where friends worked together, played together and cried together. Life's ups and downs were all experienced in a neighborhood where everyone was family. You get that old-world, comforting feeling from O'Connor and the gang. It's amusing to watch the elderly men argue just for the sake of arguing. Didn't everyone's grandparents do that? Director, co-writer and co-star Bonnie Hunt molded a traditional big-city family from the "old country."
Hunt plays Driver's best friend. She's best know from the movie "Jerry Maguire." In "Return to Me," the multi-talented actress teams with comedy veteran James Belushi. The warm-hearted dad and his wife have a chemistry that allows you to see how much they care for each other. The pair plays off each other ideally, add to that a number of young children, and this is a family you know.
Bonnie Hunt is cute in "Return to Me."
Minnie Driver is cute.
David Duchovny is cute in a dry, sarcastic way.
Carroll O'Connor is cute as the ever-loving irish grandfather.
"Return to Me" is just plain cute. Despite its implausible plot and a rather dull David Duchovny, director Bonnie Hunt makes it good-natured and palatable.
You will leave with a good feeling after seeing "Return to Me."
Isn't that good feeling the reason you go to see movies anyway?
Posted April 12, 2000
Copyright 2000 Nevada Outpost
|
|
|
|