Imagine Me and You (DVD)

Rachel (a delightfully fetching Piper Perabo, Coyote Ugly) is engaged to Heck (Matthew Goode, Match Point) and the two couldn't be any more in love. Luce (Lena Headey, The Brothers Grimm) is a quiet, unassuming flower shop owner (and a lesbian) who thinks both weddings and romantic love are a big old pile of schmaltzy hooey. She's done all the bouquets for the bride's wedding, and during the reception the two run into one another and sparks start to fly almost before the word, "hello," exits either woman's lips.

But Rachel's now a married woman, and falling in love with another person, let alone another girl, when she's still only a newlywed would utterly break poor Heck's heart. And so before their relationship can truly take off, she cuts off all contact with Luce in hopes their hearts' mutual longings for one another can somehow be abated.

Yeah. Like that is ever going to happen. The debut film from writer-director Ol Parker Imagine Me and You is a romantic comedy after all, and if the two people loving each other more than life its self didn't find some way to solve their problems and be together than something would be decidedly amiss. Where this film is heading is as forgone a conclusion as any you're ever likely to find, and the only way this would even be the least bit palatable is if Parker litters the piece with witty dialogue and clever characters worth the effort it takes to care about them.

Thankfully, that's exactly what the filmmaker does, Imagine Me and You a surprisingly fun and flirty romance that tickled my funny bone far more deftly than I'd ever have imagined it would. While the film certainly isn't rocket science, it is still a sweet-natured good time filled with winning performances and fully formed characterizations making the feature more than just an excuse to fill the soundtrack with catchy pop songs.

Not that it's perfect. The film is far too cute for its own good, and where I sort of liked Anthony Head's (Giles on "Buffy the Vampire Slayer") performance in theaters at home he annoyed me far more than I really want to admit. And, speaking of pop songs, there are too many of them for my tastes, Parker using the tired method of turning his movie into a montage of music videos instead of trying to burrow a bit deeper inside the psyches of his characters.

Fox Searchlight's DVD release of Imagine Me and You is far more bountiful than you'd expect for a film that underperformed so substantially at the box office. Continuing the studio's trend of releasing flipper discs with both Widescreen (1.85:1) and Full Screen versions of the film (and bless them for doing so – if gawd-awful Full Screen really must be offered than studio's should follow Fox's lead and offer like this). The transfer is solid and the audio, in both English and Spanish Dolby Digital 5.1, is pretty much exactly what you'd expect from a DVD.

The rest of the extras include a rather lackluster commentary track from Parker, some theatrical trailers, a spirited Q&A session with the cast and a fairly decent collection deleted and extended scenes that can be played with commentary. Most intriguing is a rather bizarre "personal statement" from Parker that's really nothing more than a closeted introduction where he tries to give his picture more weight and social significance than it deserves. Amusing, fun, romantic; these are all traits of the feature, but the second lesbian-centric coming of Brokeback Mountain this comedy certainly is not.

All that said, Imagine Me and You is still a delightfully entertaining way to spend a 100 or so minutes. While it doesn't offer much in the way of originality what it does tender in pure entertainment value probably can't be fully measured. I wouldn't call it a film to own, but as a summertime rental this one is pretty difficult to beat.