I'm with Lucy

It looks like any other American romantic movies like those of Julia Roberts (Notting Hill) or Meg Ryan (you've got mail) but the story is a little bit original and we don't get lost at all! We expect the end but seeing this movie remains a time well-spent. Monica Potter deserves to be more famous. 7/10

Self-doubting Lucy (Monica Potter) gets dumped by her 'perfect' boyfriend. She becomes depressed and her sister Jo (Julianne Nicholson) pushes her to date. Barry (Henry Thomas), Luke (David Boreanaz), Bobby (Anthony LaPaglia), Doug (John Hannah), and Gabriel (Gael García Bernal) are five of those men.

The structure of this film is interesting, inventive, and ultimately a failure. By chopping up the five relationships into a random roulette sequence, the tension is never allowed to build up. It doesn't help that Lucy is so different with each man and the effect becomes disjointing. That does lead to the second problem. Monica Potter is gorgeous and she's not this neurotic character. There could have some self doubt but this character's interior monologue is trying to be Woody Allen. Not to mention that her character changes from one date to the next. She's playing five or more characters. It's interesting to see her stretch her acting chops but it's still a problem. Overall, this has some fun and some intrigue. Mostly, it's disjointed and flat.

Lucy is quite unsympathetic, messed up and a total nag. She has her moments, but I didn't understand nor did I believe that any of the men could be bothered dating here more than once except maybe for the sex. The script is ultra thin, making it one of those pictures that stands or falls with the performance of the lead. Lucy is played by Monica Potter, who couldn't make me care one iota about Lucy. She reminded me of all the spoiled, obnoxious girls you avoided like the plague in college. So what's left? Fine performances, well, more like cameos really, by LaPaglia, Hannah and Thomas and Julie Christie does a strange turn as a Jewish mother. Yes, that's right. Garcia Bernal and Boreanaz are wasted, especially Garcia Bernal. Pass on this one.

"I'm With Lucy", with Potter (Lucy) in every scene as an available NYC single who's dating five guys, goes round and round showing Potter in select situations with each of her suitors until - drum roll, please - she finally picks one...taa-daa! Rambling on and on sans story with a tad too much of the beautiful, wide-eyed, ever innocent and always tentative Potter, "....Lucy" begins to wear itself out for lack of a real story and real depth of character. A cute flick which gets a little too fluffy and sappy, "....Lucy" should make an okay watch for incurable romantics and Potter fans. (C)

I loved Monica Potter in 'The Very Thought of You,' and was excited to see this 2002 romantic comedy starring the actress. Like 'The Very Thought of You,' 'I'm With Lucy' has a wacky premise: show the audience five different guys' dates with one girl, and hint that she'll marry one of them before the movie's over. It almost sounds like a concept for a reality show, and maybe it would have made a better tv show than a movie.

The storytelling mechanism (a little snippet of each of the five dates, then the cycle begins again) is gutsy, and I was intrigued by the idea. However, somewhere during all those dates, we lose track of who Lucy really is... She's drunk in one, and in all the others, seems strangely affected by the man she's with. She's a bit too chameleon-like for me to relate to, I guess.

The guys are all interesting... I especially liked John Hannah as Doug, though I may be biased since I adored him in Sliding Doors. The others are good, nothing horrible about their performances.

I think the main problem was the script. I kept cringing at the lines, which made the actors appear as if they were trying so hard to make this movie work that they didn't have any fun. But, as I was reminded by someone the other day, good actors can't save a movie -- they can only elevate it. I think Monica Potter and the other's elevated 'I'm With Lucy', but alas, they couldn't save it.

I do look forward to Monica's next foray into the genre. She can be fun to watch if given the right script and support.