Brokeback Molehill was the smart way a friend of mine described the stress-free approach of Imagine Me & You. Where the characters in that joke's reference were tormented and lonely, Imagine's lesbian couple is merely inconvenienced no mean feat when one's a florist (Lena Headey) that meets the other (Piper Perabo) after she gets married.
They try to deny their passion, of course, especially as the husband in question (Matthew Goode) is actually a pretty decent chap, but there's no denying attraction, and the two have a tortuous "will they or won't they?" semi-courtship that almost ends in separation.
Par for the British rom-com course, Imagine Me & You is all about minimising the most traumatic of situations not just the nearly star-crossed romance but also dealing with Perabo's doltish father (Anthony Head) and shrewish mother (Penelope Wilton), as well as a precocious kid's relationship with her panicked, unwed mom.
But if you can stomach the bourgie crassness of the whole genre, this is a decent, if wafer-thin, entry into its ranks. It's nobody's idea of a stellar coming-out movie, as evidenced by its greater interest in Perabo with Goode than with Headey, and it's not going to win awards for waving the queer cinema banner, but it's not going to do any harm to the cause either.
Ol Parker does a credible, if unsurprising, job of directing to the cool interiors and pleasant boutiques of a tourist's London, and the whole thing goes down fairly smoothly. Although it may leave a slight disappointing taste at the thought that it might have done more than come and go without major discomfort. (Fox Searchlight)
They try to deny their passion, of course, especially as the husband in question (Matthew Goode) is actually a pretty decent chap, but there's no denying attraction, and the two have a tortuous "will they or won't they?" semi-courtship that almost ends in separation.
Par for the British rom-com course, Imagine Me & You is all about minimising the most traumatic of situations not just the nearly star-crossed romance but also dealing with Perabo's doltish father (Anthony Head) and shrewish mother (Penelope Wilton), as well as a precocious kid's relationship with her panicked, unwed mom.
But if you can stomach the bourgie crassness of the whole genre, this is a decent, if wafer-thin, entry into its ranks. It's nobody's idea of a stellar coming-out movie, as evidenced by its greater interest in Perabo with Goode than with Headey, and it's not going to win awards for waving the queer cinema banner, but it's not going to do any harm to the cause either.
Ol Parker does a credible, if unsurprising, job of directing to the cool interiors and pleasant boutiques of a tourist's London, and the whole thing goes down fairly smoothly. Although it may leave a slight disappointing taste at the thought that it might have done more than come and go without major discomfort. (Fox Searchlight)