Customer Reviews

Hope Springs

5 star:		(10)
4 star:		(12)
3 star:		(7)
2 star:		(11)
1 star:		(18)

 

 

I guess I am just not as discerning, not as sophisticated, maybe just not as bright, or with it, or movie savvy as so many of the others who have taken the time to share their opinion of this movie. They would lead you to believe that your brain might turn to mush, that you may find yourself sitting in a corner drooling, perhaps beating yourself around the head for wasting the time and or money to pick up and watch this film.

Well I'm thankful that I am not like them, because I rather enjoyed it. I have yet to see a movie that is as bad as they make it out to be. Granted, "Hope Springs" is no "Citizen Kane", but then again it is no "Crimewave" (a 1985 movie that I think is the worst movie ever made). If you go into a romantic comedy expecting what most romantic comedies are, a pleasant diversion, then 99 times out of 100 you get what you expect. If you go in expecting high art, then you are bound for disappointment. Most the haters said they expected more out of Colin Firth and Minnie Driver. Many actors have made films that they are ashamed to include on their resumes, but I doubt that this is one of them. I personally would rather watch a movie like this than your run of the mill Tom Cruise $300M blockbuster that makes $100M on the 1st run (Colin Firth is an ACTOR, Tom Cruise is a movie star). Maybe they would have liked it more if some lesser actors were in it, but then they only watched it because of Driver and Firth, so they probably would not have watched it in the first place, and we then would not be having this conversation. I better wrap this up, I'm starting to confuse even myself.

Bottom line, I judge a movie on how I feel when it is over, when this was over I felt that I had spent an enjoyable 90 or so minutes and was glad I had taken the time to watch. Don't let the sophisticates scare you off, it was fun.

In Brief

When British artist Colin Ware (Firth), discovers that his fiancée Vera (Driver), the love of his life, is going to marry another man he gets on a plane for America and ends up in a tiny town called Hope. Distraught, he soon finds more than a shoulder to cry on when his innkeepers introduce him to Mandy (Graham) a beautiful nurse. But no sooner has Colin forgotten about his old flame than Vera shows up.

Review

Romantic Comedies usually have that mix of candy floss content that makes you think you can eat a whole one, as how hard can it be to eat sugar whipped in air? Yet when you attempt it you realise that while there really isn't anything to it, you cant finish as its sickly sweet and forcing yourself to throw it away you are left feeling very unsatisfied. Now while that analogy may make you cringe you'll be thankful to know that Hope Springs certainly won't. Indeed this is one of those rare hybrid films that feature an Anglo-American crossover romance and succeeds in mixing sass and irony very well so that both sides of the Atlantic may appreciate its story.

Following in the footsteps of Notting Hill and Four Weddings this slice of American apple pie sets the story in the ideally named small town of Hope, where a typically English gent (Firth) has escaped his long-term fiancée to find himself anew. Mandy (Graham) is the tonic everyman desires, and while its beginning to become a familiar story of estranged love finds new passion, both play their roles with a freshness that really lights up the screen.

Steenburgen and Collison are perfect as the comedy cupids that help steer true love on its path. While the local residents of the small town all have a part to play in both hindering and helping the pairing of Mandy & Colin. Indeed, the local mayor played by Oliver Platt is a brilliant encapsulation of the small time business man turned big time thinker, and he brings a slightly toned down but nicely timed comic turn throughout.

Like all romantic comedies the only major downside are their predictability. They all share the same fate, yet its an example of good filmmaking if the story can be remoulded as if to give the impression that its slightly original or at least engaging. Unfortunately Hope Springs is not original, but it does its job well and passes 90 minutes without temptation to make itself something far greater than it should be.

The Verdict

This is the ABC of romance, told with such a sincerity by all members of the cast that you cant help but enjoy it. Colin Firth may have moved on from the wet shirt days of Pride & Prejudice and though he may no longer be Mr. Darcy I don't believe he will disappoint. A delightful pairing with Graham works well, and Hope Springs is enough to give anyone that 90 minute dream we all need sometimes.

Okay, first off this movie is not going to scream oscar winner but it's still a fun quirky movie with likeable characters. Yes, I'm a huge Colin Firth fan and no that's not why I'm not jumping on the bandwagon of bad reviews. Yes, the movie is a romantic comedy but I wouldn't jump to the conclusion that it's predictable. Perhaps because I've not read the book that this movie was based on I did not come in with any kind of expectations. Who knows. I do recommend this movie as a nice way to spend a few hours.

I am an unapologetic Colin fan (much to my husband's chagrin) but even I feel the need to apologize for this one. If you cannot wait for Love Actually or Girl w/a Pearl Earring(the DVD is gonna be cooler than the movie with the 'lost' scenes from the book that a lot of us "firth-ites" were looking for! but I digress!) you would be much better served by purchasing some of the lesser-known films of Firth! Go get Fever Pitch (order from amazon.canada to get the more tastefull cover) or A Month in the Country w/Ken Brannaugh (bonus!) or if you are intrepid, obtain an Hour of the Pig/Advocate (both titles are the same movie. Even the absurd fantastical Mike Binder film Londinium/Fourplay is better.

The problem is the book is quirky and a great deal of changes were made from book to screenplay. Things get muddled and the principle explanation for why he chose America is lost. Plus, to make the town in to Hope they lost the New Cardiff-old Cardiff Vera connection that explains out a lot more of the ridiculous points.

Let's all hope that Richard Curtis does a better translation of BJ2 Edge of Reason...since missing from BJD was the whole rescue/Pride & Prejudice parallel with Darcy saving the family from disgrace. It would have been awesome! (Colin quite literally going around the world for you ending up with a chase where he's all unkempt and dishevelled....mmm) Anyways...

I own this disc and have watched more than once. It really is very fluffy and silly. But since my collection also incudes Master of the Moor and Apartment Zero, I'm going for the complete over quality thing. Bottom line is Colin is always awesome even when paired with Heather Graham.

To sum up: spend no money here...
Instead: BJD, Fever Pitch(highly recommend!), P&P (of course!), English Patient(why would she...???), Tumbledown, Nostromo, Valmont, Donovan Quick, Hour of the Pig/Advocate, or save up for Love Actually & Girl w/pearl earring! Also remember Trauma and BJ2 coming to theaters soon!

I watched this movie because it has Colin Firth, whom I fondly remember as being the first Mr. Darcy in a production of Jane Austen's "Pride and Prejudice" who ever managed to make the transition from snob to heartthrob over the course of the story. Firth made a trio of pretty good movies in 2003, from the cute "What a Girl Wants," to the sublime "Girl with a Pearl Earring," and the romantic "Love Actually." That same year he made "Hope Springs," and if you are wondering why you did not hear much about this film it is because most people who see it are not going to want to admit the fact.

The story, such as it is, finds Colin Ware (Fifth), an English artist who was jilted by his girlfriend deciding for reasons that passeth understanding to flee to the small town of Hope, Vermont. There he will draw charcoal portraits of the men and women there while he forgets her. Helping Colin with this quest is Mandy (Heather Graham), who is a bit strange and is drawn to jump around naked in front of him. Just as Colin becomes comfortable with Mandy, his ex-girlfriend Vera (Minnie Driver) arrives in town. Apparently Colin was not really jilted, so now we have a love triangle where the only problem is that we have no real reason to have a voting interest in any of the characters.

What makes this so remarkable is that "Hope Springs" is based on the novel "New Cardiff" by Charles Webb, who wrote the novel "The Graduate." It has been over three decades since the celebrated film version of "The Graduate" was produced and the only other novel of Webb's to make it to the screen was the 1971 bomb "The Marriage of a Young Stockbroker." But then Hollywood is full of stories of people for whom lightning did not strike twice and with this film Webb threatens to be the poster boy for such unfortunate souls.

The film is set in a Vermont town that has the most boring collection of New England eccentrics we have probably ever seen on screen. Both Mary Steenburgen and Oliver Platt are wasted in supporting roles, but then the same can be said for Firth, Graham and Driver. The only reason to like Colin the character is because we like Colin the actor, since there is nothing to warrant our attraction to the character in this film beyond his sense of befuddlement. When the best jokes in a film have to do with Catharine Zeta-Jones and smoking on a golf course, you know things are in bad shape. When you get to the point where you are supposed to get teary eyed and you yawn instead, you know this film can sink no lower. It is not so much that this is a bad film as it is that it is just not good.

Will Colin choose Mandy or Vera? I do not care and cannot think of much reason for anybody else to care as well. Maybe this film would have done better if it had a cast of nobodies instead of recognizable names who squander the good will they have built up in other films. For example, I have seen Graham do a nude scene in another film, so when she does one in which we never really see anything it just seems strange, which does set the town for the rest of this disjointed film. When Driver shows up it is impossible to believe that she and Firth ever had any chemistry. It is a good thing that Firth had those other films in the can by the time this one was released. If you have three pretty good films in one year that is pretty good, even if there is a bomb like this in the mix.

The bottom line is that I saw this movie so that you do not have to. If you like Colin Firth then I would tell you to go check out "Girl with a Pearl Earring," because that is probably the one you missed given its box office receipts and it is a gem of a film. This one is just a disappointing, boring mess.

This turned out to have been written by the author who wrote The Graduate. It is a funny movie and Colin Firth is great as always, Heather Graham was at times annoying and I kept thinking she's too young. Minnie Driver was ok and in an unexpected comic turn. However, Frank Collison and Mary Steenburgen absolutely steal the movie - they are so funny and their comic timing is impeccable. Even the man in my life laughed at some of the antics Firth & Graham got up to especially the driving scene. It's clever and very witty.

This charming romantic comedy may be too original for some tastes, but if you like subtle comic acting, characters that are quirky but not cliche, a loose British shooting/editing style, and a story with no bad guys or even unsympathetic characters, this gently funny love story makes a fine movie for two on a sofa on a cool evening.

You may not know the original writer Charles Webb, or his book 'New Cardiff' on which this romantic comedy is based. Actually, he wrote the original book of 'The Graduate' which made one Dustin Hoffman many years ago. But the wit and irony found in the classic is not to be found here. It's just lamentably ... dull.

Dull is the word. Well, things happen, but not credible way. Talented (and often underrated) Colin Firth is artist Colin, Englishman flying from his home to a small New England town un USA, after the break-up with his long-standing girlfriend Vera. He rents a room in this quiet, sleeping town of Hope (with Oliver Platt at Town Hall), and starts drawing again.

And a new girl knocks on the door; Mandy (Heather Graham), a 'carer' who, with her all good intentions, tries to 'heal' him. Not bad for Colin, especially when she is winsome Heather Graham, even when she drinks a bottle of some brown liquid in car, and starts to act differently.

Then, as you know, ex-love Vera shows up again, to form a love-triangle in which Colin thinks he is trapped. (But when vera is Minnie Driver, how could he complain of that?)

I don't know why, but the film never loses the unnatural feeling. The characters are meant for laugh, or smile, but they never make me so. One example: in one scene, Colin hears someone knocking on the door. He thinks it's his new love Mandy, but of course, it's Vera. Then, to make us laugh (I think), Colin starts dancing behind the door before opening it like an exotic dancer! It's to suprise her, but well, we are surprised, in another meaning.

The film is full of this kind of contrived, ofren impossible events. The only natural acting comes from Mary Steenburgen's peeping and meddling Inn owner (with good intention). When you see TWO of the female characters in underwear to impress the characters's sexual appeal, you know something is wrong with the film, or its poor script. I'm talking about Heather and Minnie, and yes, I enjoyed it watching, I confess, but that's definitely not a way to create lively characters.

I found myself in the video store going to rent "Hero" with Jet Li, and I came across "Hope Springs" as well. I read the box and decided sure, why not, Colin Firth is quickly becoming on the Hugh Grant level for me at least. Having just watched it I should say, I absolutely loved it. Sure it was predictable, what romantic comedy these days isn't, I mean honestly?! Regardless, I loved the quirkiness of the characters and the way they progressed through the film. Colin Firth being his usual self, a heartbroken man attempting to pick up the pieces, Heather Graham as the small town girl who never quite finds love, and Minnie Driver as the selfish EX that has everything but wants the one thing she can no longer have. Sure the end result you can figure by reading the back of the box, but it's the elements that get you there that make this movie so great. I turned this off with a BIG smile on my face and feeling generally good about life. Some of my favorite points of this movie have to be the "I'm Not In Love" rendition done by whomever as well as Colin carrying the beautiful doe eyed Heather Graham ALL the way back to his Motel room (which had to have been miles). Greatest touch with him hurting his back right before credits and the Motel owners thinking otherwise. Loved it.

Yes, the movie was rather lame and disjointed, but seeing Colin Firth throughout the whole movie was worth it!! I have been crazy about Colin Firth ever since I saw Pride and Prejudice. Colin's role as Mr. Darcy definitely has more artisitic quality, but, hey, I watched Hope Springs for aesthetic reasons!! If you want to spend an hour and half watching an extremely handsome, witty man -- rent the movie!!