Return to Me (2000)

best movie i've ever seen.

In truth, there is barely enough story here to make a film.

It's the kind of movie you'll want to see a second time with someone who hasn't seen it yet, to remember what it was like to watch it for the first time.

what a terribly boring film. I'm sorry but this is absolutely not deserving of best picture and will be forgotten quickly. Entertaining and engaging cinema? No. Nothing performances with flat faces and mistaking silence for subtlety.

"Return to Me" is a fine example of quality films that Hollywood can still produce for the whole family. The cast is excellent and includes top old-time actors, stars from intermediate years and newer actors. Carroll O'Connor and Robert Loggia head a quartet of old-time buddies that close O'Reilly's Italian Restaurant each night. O'Connor is Marty O'Reilly, the owner. Loggia is his friend and famous Italian chef, Angelo Pardipillo. James Belushi and Bonnie Hunt are Joe and Megan Dayton. They are family friends of Grace Briggs, played by Minnie Driver. Grace is Marty's granddaughter. She has an inherited heart problem. Across town (Chicago), David Duchovny is a builder, Bob Rueland. He's married to Dr. Elizabeth Rueland, a zoologist at the city zoo. David Grier is Charlie Johnson, a veterinarian at the zoo. He heads a list of friends of Elizabeth and Bob. That sets the stage for the movie. The opening scenes lay this much out, with more depth. Then the drama begins. This is a tender look at family and friends. It includes deep sorrow at loss of a beloved spouse at a young age. It includes the hope of a miracle for a young life that was born with a genetic disability. It is a film about friends and deep, lasting friendships. It is about loss of parents early in life. It is about a strong, loving relationship between a young woman and her grandfather. It is a film about strong faith and belief in God. It is a story about loss and recovery, illness and healing. It is film about joy, happiness and fun, and love of life. The whole family should enjoy this uplifting look at life, family, friendship and faith.

This is about as perfect a romantic comedy as one could ever hope to see. It's the kind of romantic film that Hollywood has simply forgotten how to make. Thank heavens Bonnie Hunt still remembers how. Her gift for storytelling shines brightly in her big screen directorial debut, which she co-wrote with her long-time collaborator, Don Lake. Splendid cast, wonderful story, and genuine performances. In the hands of a lesser director this could have gone into treacly territory. But Miss Hunt has hit all the right buttons, using the experience she gained from Second City and producing and directing her own TV shows, and her own innate sense of what works and what doesn't, to craft a tale worth watching again and again. For a first-time movie director, Bonnie Hunt, you did better than good.

This is one of the nicest and most pleasant films I've ever watched. A throwback to an earlier cinematic era, Return to Me is a wonderful romantic comedy that is more about platonic than erotic love and never lets its somewhat maudlin concept spoil a mix of subtle and broad humor.As the story begins, Bob Rueland (David Duchovny) seems to have a perfect life. He has a successful business, a great dog and is married to a beautiful and good woman. Grace Briggs (Minnie Driver), however, seems to be at the end of hers. She's in the hospital and desperately needs a heart transplant. Grace does get her heart, but only after Bob's wife is killed in an auto accident. Over a year later, Bob is still mourning his loss while Grace is still struggling to reopen herself to a life she thought she'd never have.Bob finally lets a friend drag him out on a double date and they go to the Irish-Italian restaurant when Grace is a waitress. There's an instant attraction between Bob and Grace and the romance is on. But unlike almost every other romantic comedy ever made, this story isn't about a series of silly or contrived hurdles being thrown between our two lovebirds. It's about an extended family welcoming in a new member and a woman who isn't sure if she's ready or worthy to be loved. As Bob finds himself fitting in with Grace's grandpa Marty (Carroll O'Connor) and his band of senior citizen scalawags, Grace turns to her best friend Megan (Bonnie Hunt) to get over her fears of being rejected or pitied.And just when Grace is almost ready to let herself be loved by Bob, she finds a letter. It's the letter she wrote to the person who gave her a new heart. The transplant organization gave Grace's letter to Bob, without either of them every knowing the others name. Grace is finally ready to live, but now must face that she's only alive because Bob's wife died. Will this horrible irony destroy any chance they have with each other? You'll have to watch the movie to find out.One of the biggest reasons romantic comedies fail is that they're entirely dependent on the two lead actors. It's not enough for just the guy to be great or just the girl to be great. They both have to be great on their own and then they have to be great together. This film takes a lot of that pressure off David Duchovny and Minnie Driver by surrounding them with marvelously charming and heartfelt characters in their own right. Carroll O'Connor is the Irish grandpa every wishes they could have. Robert Loggia is Marty's extremely Italian best friend and perfect sidekick. Bonnie Hunt is exactly the sort of best friend every woman wants and Megan's husband Joe (Jim Belushi) is the ordinary slob who married up in life that every guy wishes he could be. These characters and the actors who portray them are so endearing and so entertaining that they could all be in their own little movies. And by making the story so much about them, it actually makes the romance of Bob and Grace all the sweeter. Instead of having to be this big thing, Bob and Grace's relationship is like the creamy center of a chocolate covered candy.It would be fair to say that Return to Me isn't much of a "date movie" and doesn't really want to be. It isn't interested in the ebb and flow of amore or the flaming hoops of desire we make each other jump through. This is the sort of film you watch with your loved one on your anniversary, whether it's 6 months or 60 years.I've seen a lot of films, good, bad and indifferent. Return to Me is one of the best and most joyful movies I've watched and it is definitely something I recommend most highly and without hesitation.

As someone who has had multiple organ transplants, and also has a longtime boyfriend whom I met after the surgeries, may I saw that Minnie Driver's character bears no resemblance to any of the organ recipients I've shared hospital quarters with. The wit and poise her character displays when she's with friends and family, as well as at work, disappear when it comes to potential lovers. "As soon as they know," she says, "they think of me as broken." Well, honey, it's up to you to prove you're not broken.Unfortunately, the filmmakers wanted to make a tearjerker, not a good, vigorous movie about survival. The whole thing hinges on vanity, but the simple fact is, a healed surgical scar is minor compared to things like the regimen of immune-suppressing drugs (including steroids), and the fact that transplants don't last forever, so your clock ticks so loud that your loved ones hear it too. And how a potential partner may handle all of that-- from scars to a shortened life span-- is something you want to know early. There is no point hiding scars from lovers, as anyone with scars could have told Bonnie Hunt. Unfortunately, of course, it's sentimental plots that jerk tears.Duchovny and Driver both deserve better, as do those of us who have had transplants, and the wonderful people who love us.