A review by Gary Chew
"Brokeback Mountain" seems to be breaking all the buzz alarms in La La Land. The reason is, it's a new film genre. That would be the "cowpokes-in-love-with-one-'nuther" category. But hold onto your saddle horn, Pilgrim! There's another new kind of gay film that's comin' down the pike: The Lesbian Date Movie. Welcome, my friends, to "Imagine Me & You," starring Matthew Goode, the cuckold husband, Tom Hewett, in Woody Allen's new one, "Match Point." And, did I mention that Piper Perabo ("Coyote Ugly") is also in "Imagine?" Just like "Coyote Ugly," Piper isn't ugly in this movie either. (For my eyeballs, Piper is an elegant cross between Kristin Scott-Thomas and Jennifer Garner.) If truth be told, there isn't an unsightly female in the entire cast. But what gives "Imagine Me & You" a leg up on all the movies that come out every day with bunches of beautiful gals in them is that it has a very well-written script!
Heck (Goode) and Rachel (Perabo) are just getting married in a big church as the movie opens. Everyone's there. Rachel's God-oh-so-British father (Anthony Head of "Buffy") is walking his lovely daughter down the aisle when Rachel catches the eyes of Luce (Lena Headey), another young beautiful woman across the crowded room, or sanctuary. Luce has done the flowers for Heck's and Rachel's wedding. And it's immediately clear that this striking young, red-haired florist would also like to do something, or someone else, attending the ceremony. That would be, not the groom, but the bride. Yipes! And there isn't a mountain or a sheep in sight. Spinning out of the Turtles' old recording of "Happy Together" you get "Imagine Me & You," and a really entertaining, funny movie. There is some female trysting, but it's held to a minimum, and there are no overly exposed bodies anywhere in the total running time. F-word-type language is not in too much evidence and there are tender and slightly sad moments for all to enjoy whatever sexual orientation to which one might cleave. The movie is rated R, however. That's for a couple of F-words uttered by an unlikely character and some lip-locking on the part of the two young ladies mentioned above. Not surprisingly, there are lots of male jerks in "Imagine Me & You." Albeit, I was startled to finally see that not all "gentlemen" in this photoplay turn out as such. I'm not going to tell who those guys are, though. (Nothing like a fair and balanced movie about lesbians, I always say.) There is appropriate suffering on the part of some of the jerks, however, as well as most all of the lovely women cast in this film directed, in debut, by Ol Parker. What is difficult to imagine about "Imagine Me & You" is which category of moviegoer will buy more tickets for this sure-to-be well-received film, lesbians or male heterosexuals.
Gary Chew can be reached at garychew@comcast.net. Copyright © 2006, Gary Chew. All rights reserved. |
Al
Swearingen
