Review of 'Return To Me'

Return To Me

This is a very sweet movie. And when I say “sweet”, I mean it in a caramel popcorn and hot chocolate kind of way. The premise is this: A man (David Duchovny) who is deeply in love with his wife, Elizabeth, who was also his high school sweetheart, loses her in a nasty car accident. A year later he meets Grace, played by Minnie Driver, and they have instant chemistry, but it turns out that she had a heart transplant a year ago and the heart that she got was her new love’s dead wife’s. I know, it sounds very macabre but it really is a beautifully told story, heart warming and funny.

The cast includes Carrol O’Conner as Minnie Driver’s Irish grandfather, Robert Loggia as her Italian uncle (these two men operate what I suspect is the only Italian-Irish restaurant in history…tell me where else you can order ravioli with a side of boiled cabbage), Bonnie Hunt (who also co-wrote and directed the movie as well os sprinkling her real life family members throughout the movie) as Grace’s best friend, Jim Belushi, David Alan Grier and Joely Richardson has a cameo as Elizabeth.

There is genuineness in the characters, but at the same time, there is a fairytale quality to it that makes the movie that much more endearing. Now I can hear the guys out there saying “Oh, this is a chick flick.” But don’t get too judgmental because every guy that I know who has seen it, loved it and most of them went out and bought it “for the woman” in their lives, who usually haven’t seen it…and men don’t usually buy a woman a “chick flick” that the woman hasn’t specifically asked for. Guys, hear me now, and understand me….GIVE THIS MOVIE AS A GIFT!!! Christmas, Valentine's day, Mother's day, birthdays, anniversaries, whatever. Or just get it because it is really good and definitely worth watching more than once.