Return to Me (2000)

Bob is a contract builder in Chicago, with a nice life and loving vet wife. After a tragic car accident leaves his wife for dead, her heart is transplanted into the ailing Grace, a waitress in an Irish Italian restaurant who has feared she may never get a second chance at life. By pure chance, the two meet and fall in love with each other, but will complications arise when Bob discovers Grace has his dead wife’s heart?

RETURN TO ME has a likable cast and interesting if far-fetched plot, but is filled with too many cornball moments to be taken as a serious intent at real romance. When you see the dead wife’s gorilla friend or her dog try to bond with Grace as if they sense her presence, it will probably have you hurling chunks in your popcorn bucket at such nauseating syrupy schmaltz that what should be touching ends up quite laughable. When the leads are together, the film does occasionally have a certain charm, but every plot turn is contrived and it all makes really little sense to be believed. If you’re a sucker for romantic comedies, no matter how puke-inducing, there may be enough here to satisfy. Most others will think the film’s heart is in the right place, it’s the brain that needs a transplant.

Qwipster’s rating: C-

MPAA Rated: PG for language and thematic elements
Running Time: 115 min.

Cast: David Duchovny, Minnie Driver, Carroll O’Conner, Robert Loggia
Director: Bonnie Hunt
Screenplay: Bonnie Hunt, Don Lake