Father Geek here with a report from the Windy City and Chi-Town Charlie on that new Duchovny flick RETURN TO ME. Looks like another fun tour of the big city by the big lake. I was in a great little Irish-Italian Bar/Restaurant on O'Farrell St. in San Francisco last Friday around lunch time, had some outstanding Garlic Fries with a mug, or two, or three of great dark Irish brew.
Hi Father Geek,
Chi-Town Charlie here. I viewed an special advance screening of RETURN TO ME starring David Duchovny and Minnie Driver in Chicago on Tuesday, Feb. 29. Most of the filming for this movie took place in Chicago, most notably at the Lincoln Park Zoo and at a restaurant known as the Twin Anchors (which was portrayed in the movie as an Irish-Italian Bar/Restaurant, but in the real world is a really awesome place I highly recommend to all Chicago-area friends of AICN...a little trivia about the place: it was a favorite haunt of Frank Sinatra back in the day). The screening appeared to be held for the local folks involved with the production.
Here's a quick assessment: this movie is a really fun romantic comedy. No more, no less. The cast is stellar and the script features many laugh-out-loud moments. The premise by Bonnie Hunt (who did a wonderful job acting as well as directing), however, is the most difficult thing to swallow. In brief, the story is this: Duchovny's wife dies and her organs are donated. Driver is dying and in need of a heart; Driver gets wife's heart. A year later Duchovny and Driver hook up and fall in love. Driver discovers the truth about her heart and tells her new love. Duchovny is upset, but after an inspired moment with Driver's grandfather, played amazingly by Carroll O'Conner, he then decides to finally let go of the past and he and Driver come together in the end. Aside from trying to ignore what I know about heart transplants, there are mystical moments portrayed along the way that didn't quite work for me--there was plenty of magic in the chemistry between the two leads to commit me into the story, but for a mainstream audience I'm sure it will work quite well.
All of the performances were great--Hunt and Jim Belushi had great scenes together as a husband and wife with tons of children. O'Conner and his friends, played by Robert Loggia and a few others, were a stitch and a half throughout. David Alan Grier played a good supporting role as Duchovny's friend. Kwan, the western Africa lowland gorilla, did a wonderful job as a gorilla named Sidney (if you ever are in Chicago, visit the Lincoln Park Zoo and go to the Great Ape House--although now that Kwan is a big star, it might be hard to get in!).
There are probably a lot of things I could say about this movie positive and negative, but it does enchant, surprise, and delight. Warning to all those who profess an inability to express emotion: Beware, there are a couple of tear-jerker moments.
One additional note: the opening sequence kicked ass. Picture a beautiful long shot of downtown Chicago from a copter during the day--you can see the entire loop and the turns and twists of the Chicago River. You see a speck of a building under construction. Smoothly and slowly the copter drops down from probably 2500 feet up and a mile or two away and zooms in on Duchovny, who plays an architect/builder, standing on the top of this building with his crew. He's finishing his shift. He leaves the building to run home. This opening promises what it delivers: This is a Chicago movie. As for the rest of it, I'd say that it is a Chicago movie--with heart.
Chi-Town Charlie
