Return to Me

I recall the movie Return to Me (2000) movie coming out, and noting that it didn't do very well at the box office. It's not your typical Hollywood hit material. Directed by Bonnie Hunt, who also co-wrote it and plays a supporting role, it sort of meanders sweetly around a lot of standard plot features, but does so with a lot of heart and an impressive array of appealing characters played by a star cast. I loved Bonnie Hunt as the sweet and strong sister-in-law to Marisa Tomei in Only You (1994), and in Return to Me she plays Megan, a similar wise-cracking and supportive friend to Minnie Driver, the female lead, who plays Grace, a young Chicagoan who gets a new lease on life with a heart transplant. David Duchovny is the male lead and he plays an animal-loving, architect widower, with a gorgeous house and a great dog... you can see the appeal I trust? It's no Citizen Kane, but this is a feel-good movie that had me crying three separate times. Excellent!

Megan: You're going to get a heart, I know. And you'll be able to do all the things you never could before. That's what you've gotta concentrate on. Think of riding a bike, and going to Italy... and dating really handsome men. That, I know, has to happen for one of us.

Grace: I'm getting a new heart, not a new ass.

Officially a chick flick, but recommended to me by a man. I'm suggesting Only You to him for our next viewing. Only You stars Robert Downey Jr. along with Marisa Tomei, but the true star of the film is Italy. If you ever need a dose of Italian travelogue, this is the film to go for. That and the red dress Milena Canonero designed for Tomei.