Hope Springs

July 26, 2014 - Colin Firth finds hope and Heather Graham when he dumps his high-class fiancée and flies across the pond to heal his broken heart. The cast of this 2003 romcom includes Minnie Driver, Mary Steenburgen and Oliver Platt.

Firth plays a British artist conveniently named Colin. Driver is his longtime girlfriend, Vera. One day, Colin receives an invitation – to Vera's wedding – to another man! A devastated Colin takes off for America and arrives in Hope, Vermont, a town he picked because of its hopeful-sounding name. He settles into a motel run by Mary Steenburgen and her husband and sets about sketching the people of Hope.

Steenburgen quickly introduces Colin to Mandy (Graham), a free-spirited young woman who lives and works at the local old folks' home. Mandy quickly helps Colin heal his broken heart. But, their happiness doesn't last once Vera arrives, determined to win back her man.

Overall review: ** At 92 minutes, the movie is not terribly long, which is a good thing because it's still about 10 minutes too long. Additionally, I know this is a movie and the characters just do what the writers make them do. But, for the life of me, I can't figure out why a) Colin falls so hard for Mandy; and b) both Mandy and Vera think Colin is such a catch!