RETURN TO ME
Rated PG - Running Time: 1:53 - Released 4/7/00
Everyone knows how badly David Duchovny has been wanting to ditch
his X-Files gig; he talks about it openly, and the only
reason he stayed for the current season is that he cut a deal
for an obscene salary increase. And one can understand why an
actor would want to escape from a long-running TV show to explore
his capacity for playing other roles; we have all seen many actors
typecast forever in the parts they played on the boob tube. Duchovny
has chosen wisely in testing the feature-film waters; his inclusion
in Bonnie Hunt's Return To Me, alongside such talents as
Minnie Driver and Carroll O'Connor, not to mention director/producer
Hunt herself, will do nothing to harm his audience appreciation
ratings. It's a finely crafted romance written by Hunt, with some
help, and could easily be another cheap tear-jerker were it not
for her skill as a director and the cast's ability to form meaningful
relationships. Duchovny and Driver click well together (I have
never seen her fail), and Hunt, O'Connor, James Belushi, and David
Alan Grier add nice counterpoint as supporting characters.
Duchovny is Bob Rueland, a Chicago building contractor whose
most important project is designing an expanded ape habitat for
the Lincoln Park Zoo, where his wife Elizabeth (Joely Richardson)
is the primate specialist. When a tragic accident takes her life,
his resolve to finish the facility becomes even stronger. At the
same time as Elizabeth's death, heart disease patient Grace Briggs
(Driver) is waiting for a transplant donor. Grace is the granddaughter
of Marty O'Reilly (O'Connor), an Irish immigrant who, along with
friend Angelo (Robert Loggia), runs the only Irish-Italian restaurant
in town. Grace serves as the establishment's only waitress. About
a year after the accident, Bob is taken on a double date with
Charlie (Grier), the zoo's resident veterinarian. Although the
date doesn't turn out well, it takes Bob to O'Reilly's, where
he meets Grace, and the two hit it off instantly.
Soon they are dating, and although Grace is deathly afraid
to tell him about her surgery ("everyone who finds out about
it treats me like I'm broken"), their relationship develops
into something deeper and more important than either of them expected.
While Bob continues work on the Elizabeth Rueland Memorial Ape
Habitat, he becomes friendly with Grace's entire family and her
best friend Megan (Hunt) and Megan's husband (Belushi). Then,
just when she's about to summon the courage to tell Bob about
her transplant, she makes a discovery that threatens to jeopardize
their life together.
Teary romances are not my favorite genre, but Return To Me is proof that with thoughtful direction and sincere performances, it can be done right. Hunt's story (co-written by Don Lake, Andrew Stern, and Samantha Goodman) is certainly not unpredictable, but with performances like these, its few flaws can be forgiven. Driver is a superior actress, emanating the easy quality she has shown in other, drastically different characterizations I've seen her in. It seems that regardless of whether she's taking part in an quirky thriller (Grosse Pointe Blank), a period drama (An Ideal Husband), or a romance (Good Will Hunting), she can appear utterly without pretense. And Hunt is the same way; her capacity for simple reality is astounding. O'Connor, managing a thick Irish brogue, is characteristically excellent as the devout father figure, and Hunt's direction of him with Loggia and the rest is spot-on. Duchovny shows the ability to stand with the excellence that surrounds him, and Richardson is also notable in her short part as his doomed wife. ****