juanita

My low expectations were surprisingly rewarded with what turned out to be a jewel of film that I had never heard of. There are very few modern romances that appeal to me in this day and age. At the beginning of I'm With Lucy my skepticism seemed to be on target. A highly unlikely setup with our heroine, played by Monica Potter, being dismissively dumped by a creep of a boyfriend, Craig Bierko, in a public elevator and eventually setting out on five blind dates in search of the right, if not perfect man. But slowly as each scenario played out and I got to know not only each of the men she dates (John Hannah, Gael Garcia Bernal, Anthony La Paglia, Henry Thomas and David Boreanaz) as well as Lucy, I was totally won over. By the time that Lucy married one her blind dates at the end of the film, I'd found something that I've missed during the usual attempts at melding comedy and romance in today's movie market, a real warmth in the story that was told, and an appreciation for most, if not all the characters in the film. We actually experienced Lucy's growth in awareness and self knowledge. The cast was wonderful, and I'm not just thinking of the five male dates and Monica Potter, Julie Christie and Harold Ramis as Lucy's embarrassingly informative parents were spot on. If for some reason you haven't seen this film yet, please give it a try. It truly deserves real consideration given the fact that it had little or no theatrical release and a very skimpy and unannounced DVD release here in the US, although the British release does include cast interviews which are not found on the US release.

What sets this series apart from other time travel shows like Quantum Leap, is that it actually takes a serious look at how being tossed around in time would effect a person's life and relationships. This show also takes a more realistic view of marriage than most. You have two people totally devoted to one another, but it's still hard, especially when the totally unexpected enters into the mix. The real center of this show isn't time travel, but relationships. Each one of Dan's assignments has dealt with the central theme of broken relationships and how they affect the bigger picture; which is exactly the situation that Dan is dealing with in his own life. This show truly stands out from just about anything I've seen before. I hope that NBC knows what it has and decides to invest in it. I think it's a classic already.

Everything about this series is exceptional, the production values, the casting, and the riveting plot. While most of today's crime dramas seem to center around the same old tried and true CSI and Law and Order formulas of-crime committed, investigation proceeds, cops figure it out and prosecution is executed (within an hour), this series involves the exploration of the affect of the crime on all of the individuals touched by it. The fact that the writers have an entire season to explore reasons, relationships and consequences, gives this show a level of depth that most movies, let alone television series are no where near achieving.