IMAGINE ME & YOU
Directed & Written by: Ol Parker.
Produced by: Sophie Balhetchet, Barnaby Thompson & Andro Steinborn.
Director of Photography: Ben V. Davis.
Edited by: Alex Mackie.
Music by: Alex Heffes.
Released by: Fox Searchlight.
Country of Origin: UK/Germany. 93 min. Rated: R.
With: Piper Perabo, Lena Headey, Matthew Goode, Celia Imrie, Anthony Head, Darren Boyd & Eva Birthistle.

The opening lines to the 1967 hit “Happy Together” will probably bounce in your head longer than you'd like, which is just what Fox Searchlight is hoping. The title of this British rom-com-with-a-twist is easily its best marketing hook – a brave move considering this infectious anthem was only recently heard in Adaptation’s merciless musical-montage send-up. (Not taking the hint from that film, there’s even a corny dance sequence here set to a disco classic).

Imagine Me & You begins where most of its ilk end - at a wedding. While ingénue Rachel (Piper Perabo with a proper posh accent) is walking down the aisle toward fiancé Heck (the charming and self-effacing Matthew Goode, a young Hugh Grant in the making), she catches a glimpse of Luce (Lena Headey), the florist. At the reception, they formally meet at the punch bowl, then stare silently into each others’ eyes. Rachel invites Luc to dinner soon after her honeymoon, ostensibly to hook Luce up with Heck’s best friend Cooper (Darren Boyd), to whom Luce privately informs – no spoiler here – she’s gay (or “vagitarian” as Cooper leeringly puts it.) And through a series of forced coincidences (who knew London was so small), Rachel bumps into Luce, coming face to face with an “unstoppable force.”

The potential betrayal of Heck is more in line with John Sayles’ Lianna than Four Weddings and a Funeral. Unlike the main characters of that well-written froth, drama overwhelms Imagine’s strident attempts at comedy (such as Rachel’s mother, expressing concern: “Sweet s*** in a bucket, what happened?” or “That trollop, he would shag an open wound.”)

Both Rachel and Luce are beautiful but too bland to be threatening. Though it’s love at first sight, their relationship has to be accepted at face value due to the duo’s modest sexual chemistry (the Howard Stern audience won’t be flocking to this one). And Rachel fears hurting her husband, but has little hesitation in coming-out. She is immediately accepted anyway by her nearest and dearest, even her otherwise displeased mother. The character of Luce could have been the other man for that matter, but then this paint-by-numbers attempt wouldn’t have a gimmick. Kent Turner
January 27, 2006