Return To Me

Return To Me is a new romantic comedy/drama so bland and inoffensive that it should really star Tom Hanks and Meg Ryan. Instead, it features David Duchovny as a recent widower and Minnie Driver as the recent recipient of a new heart through transplant surgery ? events that are, of course, connected-who find love together. The rest of the film is populated with gaggles of cute and cuddly animals, children and old people whose only function seems to be increasing the movie's preciousness. There is a certain amount of chemistry between Duchovny and Driver, particularly in the scenes in which they first meet and start to date, where their genuine awkward nervousness is charming. Unfortunately, that alone is not nearly enough to carry this predictable fare. While some effort is made to undercut the sheer sentimentality of the script with humour, even that is eventually abandoned in favour of swelling violin music. The formulaic story is the brainchild of actor Bonnie Hunt, who also co-stars and is responsible for the uninspired direction.