O Paraíso te Espera

The problem with 'Only You' isn't so much that this low-budget fare is structured upon ever romantic comedy cliché you can think of. Andrew McCarthy plays the misguided fool who is torn between the insincere bimbo (Kelly Preston) that he spends the Christmas holiday at a tropical resort after being dumped and in a drunken haze, travels there with his new companion. The clerk at the travel agency (Helen Hunt) who wouldn't give him a refund for his trip earlier in the evening coincidentally shows up there too, on a freelance photography gig (seriously, these people must be traveling on supersonic rockets to get from Chicago to the beachside resort so quickly). And of course, the gold-digging bimbo treats him like crap and he slowly starts to realize that perhaps, the real girl for him, is the genuine travel agent/photographer he spends a lot of time with on his vacation when the bimbo is constantly hanging out somewhere with more manly men who swoon her. And yada, yada, yada... the foolish protagonist must make up his mind about what kind of lady he wants, and well... it's not only typical to romantic comedy plots, it's typical Andrew Mccarthy.

Granted the movie does offer at least a few laughs, but the movie would've been much more believable had all of this not happened in the course of about ten days. True, McCarthy's character was impulsive, but it didn't seem to square that Helen Hunt's character was, too. But of course, this is a movie. And not even a really good one, either.

A fine romantic comedy, well delivered by the gorgeous Kelly Preston, funny Andrew McCarthy and much-too-serious Helen Hunt. Unfortunately Helen Hunt is usually cast in a studious-serious type role, (As Good As It Gets) and her wide range of acting abilities are not shown. Still, a fine movie.

I like Andrew McCarthy, and he was excellent in this film. There's a lot of good laughs in the film although beneath the comedy is some very real-life tragic situations.

It's too bad that the selfish beautiful airhead (Kelly Preston)has to be blonde. Aren't they stereotyped enough already? Similarly, the predatory males are latin-blood.

Helen Hunt is excellent. The definitive scene where she falls in love is very well done, but with too much emphasis on the maternal.

Despite the ending being silly, I gave this a 7.

I thought the movie was pretty good. I hadn't seen it in a long time, so when I saw it on television the other day I was pleasantly surprised. True it was very predictable, but I still thought it was great. I love Andrew McCarthy and Helen Hunt.

This movie was just good enough for me to finish (and not turn off halfway through). On the positive side, it had all the elements that one would expect (and possibly enjoy) in any romantic comedy. In addition, Helen Hunt did a spectacular job in a quite average role with her acting basically providing the highlight of the movie. However, the film lacked good characterization and character believability. Clifford is forced to choose between the dumb blonde but beautiful Amanda, and the perfectly balanced and pleasant Clare. As it becomes overwhelmingly obvious that Amanda is just a complete flake, it becomes less believable that Clifford has truly failed to realize this fact and that he will continue to adore her without acknowledging her flaws. In addition, Amanda's character is so over the top, one wonders if she is anything more than a stereotype, even in the eyes of the author. And if so, how are we expected to believe that Clifford will time and again return to her? I was additionally disappointed with the setting - an anonymous Caribbean resort that could have been beautiful, but instead struck me as simply washed out. There are many superior romantic comedies you could watch, with the same basic plot, but better acting, settings, and characterization. I would recommend skipping this one, unless you are a huge Helen Hunt fan, an unashamed chick flick aficionado, or just simply don't care about good quality characterization.