Imagine Me and You - Review

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Length: 94 min

Rated: R

Distributor: Fox Searchlight Pictures

Release Date: 2006-01-27

Starring: Piper Perabo, Matthew Goode, Lena Heady, Eva Birthistle, Darren Boyd, Anthony Head, Sharon Horgan, Celia Imrie, Sue Johnston, Rick Warden

Directed by Ol Parker

Produced by Sophie Balhetchet, Andro Steinborn, Barnaby Thompson

Written by Ol Parker

Visit the movie's Official Site!

Reviewed by Joshua Tyler : 2006-01-30 12:51:24

Most marriages end in divorce. We’ve long since passed the 50% mark. Wonder why? At least a little of the blame has to go to movies like Imagine Me & You. Our culture glorifies unrealistic romantic expectations. That’s bad enough. But movies, books, and television shows like Imagine Me & You take that glorification to an entirely new level by actively endorsing a grass is greener approach to marital fidelity. Rather than rejecting the morally reprehensible idea that it’s acceptable to ditch your spouse the first time someone new catches your eye, we’re asked to embrace it.

That’s the basic premise behind Imagine Me & You, writer Ol Parker’s directorial debut. Though he changes things up a bit by throwing lesbianism into the mix, the sexual orientation and identity of the players involved in this story is basically irrelevant. Actually, that’s one of the refreshing things about the film. It doesn’t spend a lot of time slapping labels on its characters, or dwelling overmuch on which restroom they’re most likely to walk into. The people in Parker’s story are simply people, love can strike anywhere and whether it’s a woman and a woman, or a man and a woman, or a man and a man is merely a footnote in the romance that follows.

Rachel (Piper Perabo) and Heck (Matthew Goode) are getting married. They’ve been best friends for years and they’ve also fallen in love. Theirs is a romance built on mutual respect, friendship, deep understanding, and genuine affection. Heck is the perfect guy. Kind, reserved, handsome, funny, and caring he dotes on Rachel, he’s head over heels for her. Rachel is clearly in love with him too. She’s the wild one, she pulls him out of his shell, brings excitement into his life. They’re the perfect compliment to one another. But while walking down the aisle on her way to marry Heck, a woman, for a moment, catches Rachel’s eye. She sees her only for a brief second, but something explodes inside Rachel’s head. The woman’s name is Luce (Lena Heady), and lucky for Rachel (though perhaps no so lucky for Heck) she’s a lesbian.

It’s just a momentary glance, so Rachel (wisely) ignores her strange attraction to another woman and gets married anyway. Yet when the wedding’s finished she finds herself inviting Luce over for dinner. A few days later, though Rachel has never before been attracted to women and though till now she’s clearly been quite happy with men, they’ve both convinced themselves they’re utterly in love. You know, real love, the kind that happens only at first sight… as opposed to say the love she thought she felt for Heck, the kind that grew and deepened over time and was based on something more than a temporary, shallow, chemical reaction. Heck has no idea that his wife has recently rediscovered herself as a closet bi-sexual, but he does know something’s wrong and he’s desperate to understand her, to make her happy. Meanwhile, Rachel is confused, selfish, and lost. Will she stay with Heck or will she break her newly formed marriage vows, betray the man who two days ago she loved, throw away her years of happiness with Heck destroying him in the process, and run off with someone she met only last week? You’ve seen movies before, you can figure out what happens. Staying married is such a bore.

There is a way to make this premise work, but Parker’s script doesn’t find it. Heck is too sympathetic; in fact he’s the most likable character in the film. Imagine Me & You asks, no demands that you root for Rachel and Luce to get together, but the other characters in the story are so well drawn and so endearing that their romance is overshadowed by Rachel’s short-sighted, shallow-minded betrayal of Heck in favor of a sort of love that positively does not exist outside of Hollywood entertainment. For some, this will likely be no problem, assuming you place no value on marriage as a serious commitment and have perhaps yourself run off on a loving spouse in favor of some new flavor of the month.

Were Heck a brutish prick or an inattentive, self-absorbed husband, Rachel’s abandonment of him might be easier to swallow. Because otherwise Imagine Me & You is a fantastically well made film. Matthew Goode is wonderful as Heck, almost too good since you end up rooting for him instead of Perabo’s Rachel. But the rest of the characters are just as well acted in Parker’s beautifully shot, London themed pic. Parker captures the right mix of humor and sentiment to deliver something that is until Rachel’s final betrayal, involving, thoughtful, and even a little moving. But we needed a villain instead of a victim if the happy romance between Rachel and Luce is going to work. Without that, the cheerful music at the end is almost insulting. No one cares if Rachel and Luce kiss; we’re still thinking about Heck, alone in their apartment and sobbing.

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realitybites
March 1, 2008 at 17:01

I felt that the film was very sweet. Most other gay films or regular films with gay sub-plots show just raw sex without emotions. The writer-director here has very beautifully shown how one can stumble across love without any notice. I do agree that the first meeting rather the first time luce and rachel look at each other across the room at rachel's wedding could have been slightly more powerful, but no harm done. The attraction is clearly visible and throughout the movie i did not once think about the gender of the protagonists. It was one soul falling in love with another, for me it isnt a gay film at all...its a regular, happy, feel good romantic comedy...why is everyone overlooking the fact that rachel did not cheat on Heck. She felt a certain way about Luce, in a weak moment kissed her and then realized that she was married and went on to make amends. It was Heck who asked her to leave him because he could not accept her loving another more than him...she was true to him, she was brave enough to come and own up to Heck. Luce was a more silent yet extremely expressive character. Her feelings showed in her eyes. She never once made a pass at Rachel even though she was the lesbian, she was always uncomfortable (after 'H's science project Rachel wants to talk but Luce runs off). It was always Rachel who was vocal and more expressive about it. She attempted to kiss Luce after their night out (Football game and dance dance revolution) but pulled back for some reason (uncertaintly, confusion). She came to talk to Luce about this feeling she was feeling after which they ended up kissing in the back of the shop (you could feel the confusion in the mind of both cuz Rachel came to finish something that did not exist...the chemistry between Lena Headey and Piper Perabo is great). Luce maintained and understood that she did not want to mess up a couple and she stuck to it till the end. She left it to Rachel to take the decision which she took but Heck made her change it...so no one cheated on anyone.
Overall the film just makes u want to fall in love...atleast i felt that i need some spark in my life. It made me question whether gender should exist at all...when they say love has no boundaries it should hold true wrt to gender as well. It made me question my sexuality, it made me think of what i would do if i ever was in a situation like this (considering it could happen to anyone...there are a lot of feelings that are unexplained a lot of relationships that cannot be classified and we should just let them be and feel the moment cuz we only live once) the answer was simple..id follow my heart.

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sage
February 5, 2008 at 03:33

Imagine Me and You was one of the most horrible movies i've seen. Just because the person that cheats on the spouse is a woman and lesbian doesn't make it right, it's still CHEATING. As far as I'm concorned everyone thinks men are evil and lesbians are saints. Well I'm sick of it. The fact is that it's a generic bland movie with horrible plots and bad acting only made bearable by the character Heck. If Luce was a man she'd be called a housewrecker and her "partner" a slut. Face it guys get the short end of the stick, and with movies like this they always will.

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saffy
June 5, 2007 at 08:09

i believe that love is beyond gender. it hits you instantly and you don't have a choice who will be the object of your affection. of course you can choose not to act on it but the feelings will still be there. it's not the anatomy that should be significant, it should be the whole being of the person - may it be a "he" or a "she"

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kakai
January 31, 2007 at 23:15

i have seen this movie through a lesbian partner of my aunt. at first i didn't mind the picture shown infront of the videos' cover so i really have no idea what the movie was all about, i am now in a situation like Lucys', being attracted to a lesbian who is a schoolmate of mine and i relly like her a lot. having seen this movie, i am opened to a possibility that there could be an "US". i am really inspired of this movie no matter what the other people may say about me i don't care because i find this movie a realistic one, let's face it, a lot of relationships like this are really happening into our society, let's just open our eyes into reality.

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nath
October 13, 2006 at 12:14

I have an inkling that the person who wrote this review is one of those black and white people. He did raise a couple or so good points re marriage and fidelity but he forgot the other "colors" of life.
I'm also trying hard not to think it's because he's a straight guy so he carelessly dismissed the movie as part of the universal conspiracy to alter everything noble about love and marriage.
Rachel did love Heck but as a friend, I distinctly remember hearing her say that in the movie. She was bound to find someone else (not Heck) who'll make her really fall in love. If you wanna be gender-sensitive about it, you can say, maybe she was really looking for a girl. but if you wanna be less complicated about it well, the right person just happened to be A girl, meaning Luce. Lastly, it's not a HOLLYWOOD romance(It's a Brit film thank God). That kind of story is very real. Believe me :)

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Lynn
August 8, 2006 at 07:04

Another review written by a man. Gosh, do they like romantic movies at all?? Or their ego suffers so much?

"Imagine Me & You" is one of the best movies, I've seen over the past few years. Thanx god, it's not american, 'cause "mature" approach to marital fidelity wouldn't allow to make such an adequate film in USA. The movie is far from "glorifying unrealistic romantic expectations". All the characters are REAL. Not only supporting actors. Piper and Lena did a great job.

The movie is about finding/meeting the Right One. Not about being selfish and betraying the Marriage. I liked Heck a lot. He's a perfect husband. But you can't force a person to stay with someone (no matter how perfect he is), if it seems to be wrong.

Anyways.. thanks to Ol Parker for the great movie.

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nap
August 5, 2006 at 01:16

i like the movie.i've seen it a lot of times.I'ts really a great movie.i love it.

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Brenda
August 1, 2006 at 23:30

No we're not still thinking about Heck along crying in his apartment because he's in an airplane flirting it up with someone new, starting his life the way he actually wanetd to in the first place and now able to travel and write his book!

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Catherine
July 25, 2006 at 20:08

i really liked this movie. i think that it makes people think.....we need some of that going on in America :)

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