Hope Springs

After finding out his fiancé Vera (Driver) has been cheating on him and is about to marry another man, Colin (Firth) backs his bags and flies to Maine, USA. He finds solace in the sleepy little town of Hope, were the locals are as nosey as they are friendly. Still feeling depressed and extremely downtrodden, the hotel manager Joanie (Steenburgen) asks her care-worker friend Mandy (Graham) to take a look at the lovelorn Englishman. The pair get closer as they send more time together but that is all thrown into whack when Vera arrives.

Romantic Comedies and period dramas are what Colin Firth is becoming known for and with Hope Springs, his reputation isn't going to change.

This is Colin Firth at his most English. Playing the part he plays in most of his romantic comedies, whatever period they are set in. He is the upper class, bumbling Englishman that is stereotypical of what the Americans want to see us as. In fact Hugh Grant and he have cornered the market in this character. He needs to move away from mushy leads in romantic comedies and stretch his acting abilities like he did playing the Earl of Wessex in Shakespeare in Love before he gets pigeon holed in this type of role forever.

The movie itself suffers from a complete lack of both romance and comedy. Even though she is extremely beautiful, Heather Graham just doesn't have any screen chemistry with Colin Firth. The two of them just don't look right together, leading to a lack of believability in the story and any kind of romance between them. You can't imagine him having a relationship with Minnie Driver's character either, as she just isn't a nice person at all.

The eccentric townsfolk, who are supposed to be the comic relieve just succumb to small town USA stereotypes consumed with gossip and the mistrust of outsiders. Oliver Platt does his best with his limited role as the town's mayor and Mary Steenburgen is severely underused as the hotel manager. The ensemble cast deserves a lot better than this as the script only ever manages to raise a slight smile as the predictable ending comes to pass.

This is severely average twaddle and the movie will only appeal to the true romantic and the emotionally sloppy.

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2003