Who knew that when he ordered the special, he'd get the dish of his life? David Duchovny and Minnie Driver ignite sparks in this warm-hearted winner about a widower and a waitress who meet and fall in love. Featuring an incredible all-star cast, this hilarious romantic comedy delivers a lot of laughs, tears and joys that will make your spirits soar. It took a lot of coaxing to get Bob (Duchovny), a recently widowed architect, to go on a blind date at a quirky Irish-Italian eatery. Once there, he's smitten instantly; not with his date, but with the sharp-witted waitress, Grace (Driver). With unsolicited help from Grace's match-making Grandfather (Carroll O'Connor), Bob asks her out. And as their relationship blossoms, everything seems to be going great, until an unbelievable truth is revealed, one that could easily break both of their hearts for good.
Directed by
Bonnie Hunt
Written by
Bonnie Hunt (story) & Don Lake (story) and Andrew Stern (story) & Samantha Goodman (story) Bonnie Hunt (screenplay) & Don Lake (screenplay).
Starring
David Duchovny (Bob Rueland); Minnie Driver (Grace Briggs); Carroll O'Connor (Marty O'Reilly); Robert Loggia (Angelo Pardipillo); Bonnie Hunt (Megan Dayton); David Alan Grier (Charlie Johnson); Joely Richardson (Elizabeth Rueland); Eddie Jones (Emmett McFadden); James Belushi (Joe Dayton); Marianne Muellerleile (Sophie); William Bronder (Wally Jatczak); Brian Howe (Mike); Chris Barnes (Jeff); Adam Tanguay (Adam Dayton); Karson Pound (Karson Dayton). Please contact SFC to add other cast members and characters.
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The gorilla in the room
Mark Banks (United Kingdom)
Opinion: Limited Recommendation
Return to Me is boderline for me with respect to being a film I'd recommend widely and a film that I'd only recommend to a few - and the latter appears to be leading the way at present. I remember watching this film before I returned to my faith, and I thought it was okay, average, a little strange with the whole heart transplant thing. But my over-riding memory of the film was of Bob's wife Elizabeth (as played by Joely Richardson) reaching out her hand to touch the glass with the gorilla doing likewise on the other side. I thought that was a very powerful, even spiritual, scene. And so for me I remembered the film as 'that gorilla film'. I also thought the writing a bit poor in that it let the audience get to know Elizabeth too much; meaning it was just too hard to ever root behind Grace too much. Having now returned to my faith, watching the film again, I appreciate the strong message with respect to the power of prayer, but there are also one too many expletives of the sterotype Catholics are infamous for, that really don't help things. So overall, I feel what's left is an average film, with a good heart (no pun intended!), but nevertheless a film that if it is to communicate a message at all, it will mostly be preaching to the choir.
