>>REVIEW
IMAGINE ME AND YOU
STARRING Piper Perabo, Matthew Goode, Lena Headey,
DIRECTED BY Oliver Parker
Opens Friday, February 17
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Romance is dead. At least, that's how I feel in February, buying coma-inducing Valentine sweets for myself and being reminded of my inability to maintain a relationship. And then along comes a movie perpetuating the idea that love at first sight does exist. Whether or not this is a well-contrived conspiracy to foster the idea of romance and bolster the rose, chocolate and jewelry industries, we'll never know.
Nevertheless, Imagine Me and You is a touching film that effectively accomplishes what every great romantic comedy should – it preserves the hope that love could be waiting around any corner, or at least at your own wedding.
Coyote Ugly's Piper Perabo convincingly dons an English accent to play Rachel, described by one character in the movie as being as heterosexual as Barbie. On the day of her wedding to Heck, played by the swoon-inducing Matthew Goode, she feels an ephemeral moment with Luce (Lena Headey), the wedding's florist, whom she's just meeting for the first time. Heck and Rachel befriend the single Luce, and Rachel still can't stop imagining what life would be like with her.
Making his directorial debut, screenwriter Oliver Parker directs a cheeky British comedy with heart. Perabo and Headey wonderfully portray the two women compelled to be together but driven apart by their circumstances. Complicating the matter is the fact that Heck is just so darn nice. He and Rachel would likely have a great life together, but it would never reach such heights as Rachel and Luce.
Granted, there are some cringe-worthy moments, including a scene where the two women perform some eerily synchronized dance moves on a Dance Dance Revolution arcade game. I realize it's hard to look cool attempting that – but I had to avert my eyes. A few key moments in the film rely entirely too much on a certain formula overdone in many a generic romantic comedy.
Nevertheless, if there's even a small part of you that still fantasizes about meeting "The One" at a groovy little coffee shop, or swears you've already met "The One" and it was love at first sight, then you need to be knocked upside the head, fool! Just kidding – then you need to see Imagine Me and You, a film that reaffirms those magnetic moments between two strangers as being possibly more than fleeting. |
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