Hope Springs - Die Liebe deines Lebens

After reading all the negative posts I just had to see this movie. I have visited beautiful Hope B.C. and I really like Mr. Darcy(sorry, Colin Firth). Both I and my wife found this film quite entertaining and really liked all the quirky characters. At first I didn't quite get the bedroom dance but I attributed it to her being a caring person who felt she had to do something really extreme to cheer this man up. I liked the Minnie Driver character with her constant battle to smoke a cigarette. I guess if I had gone to film school I would have seen something to condemn but as just one who watches movies for fun, I really liked it.

"Hope Springs" is a romcom about a forlorn and jilted English artist (Firth) who travels to a rural New England community where he falls for a babe (Graham) only to find his ex-girlfriend from the UK (Driver) is hot on the trail of reconciliation. The result is a flat, insipid, silly tale of a man caught between two women which fails at delivering quality in either romance or comedy and creates characters who aren't even very likeable. The film has its moments though they're few and far between, good production value, and the camera is in focus throughout. Beyond that there's little good which can be said of this very ordinary film which grows annoying as time wears on and will work best, if at all, for fans of the players, romcom junkies, and sentimentalists. (C)

The movie perhaps wasn't all that brilliant, but it wasn't all that bad after all...

It was actually fun.

Fun to see Collin Firth making fun of himself, also Oliver Platt being pathetic as the head of the city of Hope...

The chemistry was there. The script wasn't just superb, but the actors make it up to you.

It's a change from the Briget Jones's Diary, where Firth has to compete with Grant to get a girl. The girls are competing with each other to get him for a change.

I've enjoyed it. So has my wife.

Good to watch on DVD on a late evening. It'll cheer you up.

I finally saw the film!! It was a delightful subtle piece of filmmaking. The movie is based on the book(New Cardiff) by author Charles Webb, of "The Graduate" fame. Mark Hermann, doing double duty as screenwriter and director, does an adequate job of translating the book to film.

Colin Firth is on the money as Colin Ware, a jilted artist who comes to America to forget his romantic troubles. He jumps out of the fire and into the frying pan, so to speak. By virtue of the hotel manager, he finds a new romantic interest in Heather Graham who plays Mandy, a 'caregiver' by trade. He gets acquainted with this quirky little town whether he wants to or not.

He starts to do portraits of the townsfolk. I found these portrait scenes to be quite entertaining. All is well until now ex-fiancee Vera reappears on the scene in Hope. There is good caustic interplay between Mandy and Vera in their fight over the same man.

Good performances from great ensemble cast made of up Oliver Platt, the Mayor of Hope, Mary Steenburgen as oh-so-tacky matchmaking Hotel manager and Frank Collison as her eccentric husband.

If you are looking for something more subtle than this summer's blockbuster fare, try this delightful little gem of a film! You won't be disappointed.

P.S. For Colin fans out there, he looks gorgeous! I can't wait for the DVD to appreciate him in all his glory.

Michele

The story so far: Broken-hearted English artist flies to a small New England town he just picked off the map to run away from a fiancée that hurt him. He meets up an an American girl and then ex-fiancée arrives and lots of fun etc etc etc

This *should* have been a good film. Three lead actors who, on their day, are more than excellent, and a script that, although formulaic in the rom-com mould, has enough changes to at least make it interesting.

So why does it fail?

None of Colin Firth, Heather Graham or Minnie Driver actually make us believe their character. I'm guessing that the film was pitched on the strengths of Firth in 'Pride and Prejudice' and 'Bridget Jones' Diary' without realising that Colin Firth actually isn't Hugh Grant - mind you Grant would have failed at this film too. It needed somebody who wasn't a 'name' but then, of course, it wouldn't have got made.

In the role of the evil ex-fiancée I wonder who else they considered; Minnie Driver was an interesting choice that seemed not to work - whilst not exactly pure evil, you know the script-writers called for Cruella de Ville with a hint of niceness. Heather Graham was slightly more believable as the kooky girl-next-door type, but the stars of the show were Mary Steenburgen and Frank Collison as Joanie and Fisher.

The entire film strikes me as a money-making exercise for the studio. Throw an Englishman that the American rom-com demographics have heard of and sit back and hope the dollars come in.