Cast
Bob Rueland (David Duchovny)
Grace Briggs (Minnie Driver)
Megan (Bonnie Hunt)
Angelo (Robert Loggia)
Joe (James Belushi)
Marty O' Reilly (Carroll O' Connor)
Charlie Johnson (David Alan Grier)
Directed by Bonnie Hunt Written by Bonnie Hunt, Don Lake and Andrew Stern Rated PG for language and thematic elements
Running Time: 115 minutes Distributed by MGM

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Return to Me is an amusing romantic comedy. The film is about love, destiny and fate. Bob Rueland (Duchovny) is a recently widowed architect, who buries himself in his work to some how ease the pain of the lost of his wife. Nearly a year after his wife's death, Bob meets Grace (Driver) and immediately becomes attracted to her. Grace is a waitress who recently received a heart transplant to save her life. Bob and Grace get to know one another and both feel warm for the first time in a long time. Unknowingly at first to both, the donor of Grace's new heart was Bob's late wife. However, drawn together by playful fates, Bob and Grace must prove to one another that love is made possible by much more than a few heartbeats.

Return to Me is a common romantic comedy with terrific original characters. The film does have a different type of romantic twist to it, but still has the same type feeling as such films like You Got Mail and Grumpy Old Men.

Bonnie Hunt makes a decent but respectable directorial debut with Return to Me. Hunt also co-wrote the script with Don Lake and Andrew Stern. The first twenty to twenty-five minutes of the film are slow, but the opening does establish the story and the characters. The story is a typical and predictable romance about two lonely people that find an attraction with one another. However, it is the supporting characters that save this film. The supporting characters bring a lot of different views and colors about love and family to the film. Examples of these enjoyable characters are Grace's grandfather (O'Connor) and his friends, Grace's best friend Megan (Hunt) and her husband Joe (Belushi) and finally Bob's best friend Charlie (Grier).

David Duchovny and Minnie Driver are both strong as the two romantic leads in Return to Me. Duchovny finally steps out of the shadow of the X-Files and proves that he can develop other characters besides Fox Mulder. Minnie Driver continues to shine and show that she has the balance to be a leading lady in Hollywood. I thought the real scene-stealer of the whole movie was James Belushi, who played Grace's best friend's husband Joe. Belushi is a hilarious whirlwind as the prelude and proletarian husband. I am glad to see Belushi back in a movie, after he has practically fallen out of acting for the past ten years. I have always like Belushi in his previous acting roles, like in Mr. Destiny, Taking Care of Business and Curley Sue. I hope to see him getting more roles and returning to acting for good. Another actor that I was glad to see back in film was David Alan Grier, who played Bob's best friend Charlie. Grier was so hysterical on TV's In Living Color. However after the show was cancelled many years ago, Grier sort of fizzled out of acting. Grier does an effective job in Return to Me and I also hope to see him in more films in the future. Robert Loggia and Bonnie Hunt also turn in nice performances that contribute to the comedy and drama of the film.

Return to Me is a film that I believe most people will enjoy. There really isn't anything that bad in the film, it does start off slow, but it is an okay movie. I really thought that most pleasant thing in the film was the supporting characters and performances in the film.

Report Card Grade: B-

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