Touches You

everything you have heard about this movie is true.

This is a tender, generous movie that likes its characters and presents them as real people, full of flaws and strengths.

Entertaining from beginning to end, it maintains the spirit of the franchise while establishing it's own seal with a fun cast

This is a well written piece by Peter Morgan, author of Stephen Frears' and Helen Mirren's The Queen currently making the rounds of the theatres. Director Nick Hamm is certainly not without a CV either. One unfortunate aspect of it all is the absolutely terrible title given the film in the US - truly there is no excuse and it belies the mentality in that country.As a romantic comedy - of a sort - it beats anything that ghost town Hollywood be capable of; there are elements here which won't be obvious to you on first viewing and that's to your advantage.Joey Fiennes: he talks like Shakespeare! There's a least one scene where you expect him to blurt out 'oh I am fortune's fool'.This is refreshing and highly original and well worth a view. Ourselves we saw it on the telly, so we'll have to hunt it down as a rental or a purchase to benefit fully by it.The charisma between Fiennes and Potter is palpable. As many say, Potter seems the blonde Roberts, but she's very much a match in talent as well. The conceit of this film - a girl who has her back to the wall and nowhere to go and simply gets on a plane to go somewhere, anywhere - has very much the feel of other movies in the genre such as French Kiss. It's a cathartic setup that works well and frankly Joey Fiennes has something his brother will never have.Definitely worth the view and possibly the purchase.

Martha (Monica Potter) has fled the United States and is traveling to London to start her life over again. On the plane, she meets Daniel, a successful English businessman, who is promptly smitten with the blonde beauty. He offers to pay Martha's hotel fee for her first night in London and advises her on a choice of lodging. By strange circumstance, Martha also runs into Daniel's two best friends, Laurence and Frank, over the course of the next twenty-four hours. All three of them are attracted to her. Which one will she choose?This is a sweet British romantic comedy, told in flashbacks by Laurence, as he confides the tale to a psychiatrist. The four principal players give capable performances and invest their characters with charm, especially Fiennes. While some viewers may be disgruntled that the plot unfolds in bits and pieces, most will stay intrigued. Those looking for the best humorous love stories available will find this film does not make the A-list. Still, it has enough fine qualities to make it a worthy addition to the genre. Recommended for those seeking a snowy day diversion.

I really didn't expect much when I saw this movie. I was in full knowledge of it being a self-proclaimed 'British/American romantic comedy with a twist', whatever that means, but I honestly took my seat at the theatre half-expecting to sleep the way through it.Boy was I wrong!?!?This is not a flawless movie, far from it. On the downside it felt a way bit simple and sometimes dangerously close to becoming a generic movie but it actually did a great job in walking the tightrope.The pacing, it must be said, is brilliant as it does a great job of telling you full four stories and establishing multi-layered relationships between 3 best friends from Britain and a young woman from America with such ease that you feel like you've known them forever. The acting is spot on, although credit must be given to Rufus Sewell who owns this movie as the unfortunate Frank, whose "like me! like me!" plea warms my heart every time I see it!The music is great, the lighting is terrific and somehow, over a period of 30 minutes, this movie manages to create and establish a scenario so perfect that every man and woman will emerge from the cinema wishing they were there. Of course, not all is gold that glitters and as such the scenario more or less crumbles throughout the story but the main theme in the movie is this; it's there and if you keep your eyes open it just might happen to you.Of course, 'happen to you' is the easy part. What's hard is trying to make it work all the way, i.e. not just catching the ball but actually carrying it all the way into the end-zone. Which is where the story gets interesting.I advise anyone who doesn't have any prejudice against romantic comedies to go see this one, as it will surprise you. No, it's not the movie to end all movies, nor is it a piece that will change your outlook on life, but for 90 minutes it will make you forget about all your worries and just enjoy yourself: laugh, smile, hold hands, wish you were holding hands, feel loved or love someone or both, and eventually walk out into the real world feeling like you've experienced a piece of bliss that has made your day a good one.Give it a try, it's not big but it might bite you.4/5.

This is a sweet, charming romantic comedy with a playfully self-referential plot knitted together in flashbacks from different characters' points of view: David Lodge's 'Small World' meets Hal Hartley's 'Flirt'. A woman comes to London to start a new life, and bumps into three very different men who all fall for her. She doesn't know that they're friends; they don't know that she's met all of them. She thinks she's lost the one she's fallen head-over-heels in love with, he thinks he's lost her. But we know that it'll all come out right in the end, because it's that kind of film.Furthermore it has Joseph Fiennes looking soulful, and Rufus Sewell in a part he wanted "because I got to smoke cigarettes and say 'f*ck!' a lot". Definitely one for a girls' night in.