Return to Me

Directed by: Bonnie Hunt Written by: Bonnie Hunt Don Lake Starring: David Duchovny Minnie Driver Carroll O'Connor Robet Loggia Bonnie Hunt David Alan Grier Joely Richardson Eddie Jones James Belushi Marianne Muellerleile William Bronder

This movie has a strong negative and a strong positive. That makes for a movie that just kind of heads down the middle of the road.

The negative is part of the plotline. David Duchovny plays Bob, a successful architect. His wife works at the zoo working with a gorilla. At the same time we are learning this we also see Grace (Minnie Driver) in a hospital. She is waiting for a heart transplant and will soon die without one. To my complete lack of surprise Bob's wife is killed in a car accident and Grace receives her heart.

The strong negative is that within about five minutes of the start of the movie I had already worked out pretty much the entire plot. I hoped and prayed I was wrong but unfortunately as the movie continued I was proven to be highly accurate in my predictions. That's never a good thing. When a plot is this obvious this quickly it tends to leave the viewer with little reason to stay interested in the movie.

This brings me to the strong positive. This is a romantic comedy so of course Bob and Grace meet and fall in love. I've always liked Minnie Driver and she is excellent here. She give Grace a sweetness and vulnerability that makes her character quickly likeable. When the two of them get together there is an immiediate and easy chemistry between the two of them. You can easily believe that they are falling in love. That chemistry makes the movie watchable even though any hope of surprise went out the window shortly after taking my seat.

Add to that a strong supporting cast and the movie has a surprising amount of depth considering the lame duck plotline. Carrol O'Connor is great as always. Robert Loggia counterbalances him perfectly and David Alan Grier makes a good foil for Duchovny when away from Grace.

What this all means is that it makes a decent romantic movie. It should serve well to take a date to. It won't blow a date away but it won't embarass you either.

- John Shea