Do you believe that it is possible for two people to lock eyes across a room and know instantly that they love each other? The theory that certain individuals are destined for each other has provided the main storyline for many movies, including Sleepless in Seattle.
Ol Parker, the writer and director of this sprightly British movie, is a definite believer in love at first sight; that's what happened with him and his wife and they have been happily married for ten years. His enthusiasm for this idea shows in the movie, which is filled with appealing characters who all have their own peculiar takes on love.
Rachel (Piper Perabo) has been dating Heck (Matthew Goode) for a long time and they have become best friends. She has chosen to take the next step and marry him. But as she is walking down the aisle with her father (Anthony Head), Rachel locks eyes with a strikingly beautiful woman she has never seen before. The stranger is Luce (Lena Headey), the florist hired by her mother (Celia Imrie). At the reception, they bump into each other at the punch bowl and Luce introduces herself. Rachel has accidentally dropped her wedding ring into the bowl. Luce retrieves it and they part. But a lingering feeling of connection takes hold of the bride. She is determined to see the florist again and when Heck tells her that his best friend Cooper (Darren Boyd) is very interested in dating Luce, Rachel sets up an evening when the four of them can have dinner together.
Luce is a self-possessed young woman who finds that people are constantly bringing their problems to her at the flower shop — to which she always has just the right plant to suggest. For example, when a woman who has just found out that she is pregnant comes in, and breaks down in tears, Luce provides the woman with just the right flowers to give her lover to help him handle the news.
Heck finds out that Luce is gay before his wife does. By then, he is baffled by Rachel's lack of sexual interest in him. Cooper is undeterred when he learns about Luce's sexual orientation.
Rachel's feelings are reciprocated; Luce finds that her love for Rachel has invaded every pore of her body. Luce confesses this to her single mother, but tells her that she also doesn't want to become a marriage wrecker.
Imagine Me & You moves along at a brisk pace, and it is clear that intimacy remains an enigma to everyone around the new lovers. Meanwhile, Rachel's parents can barely abide each other and Luce's mother is depressed about her loneliness but afraid to test the waters with men. When Rachel asks some co-workers whether or not they believe in love at first sight, one of them responds that it would certainly make things easier.
There are a few great surprises in the film, and one of the best involves Rachel's little sister's act of kindness in a moment when a devastated person needs some tender loving care. It is these moments that make Imagine Me & You such a treat.
Special DVD features include a commentary by director/writer Ol Parker; deleted and extended scenes with the director's commentary; Q&A with the director and cast; and a personal statement by director Ol Parker.
