HOPE SPRINGS

RUN TIME: 92 Minutes

FILMING LOCATIONS: Fort Langley Community Hall, Fort Langley, Langley Township, British Columbia, Canada Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada

DIRECTOR: Mark Herman	WRITER: Mark Herman
PRODUCER: Uri Fruchtmann, Grace Gilroy, Barnaby Thompson	CINEMATOGRAPHER: Ashley Rowe

CAST: Colin Firth.....Colin Ware Heather Graham.....Mandy Minnie Driver.....Vera Edwards Mary Steenburgen.....Joanie Fisher Frank Collison.....Fisher Oliver Platt.....Doug Reed Mary Black.....Mrs. Peterson Ken Kramer.....Mr. (Harold) Petersen Chad Faust.....Rob Tony Alcantar.....Webster Bethoe Shirkoff.....Martha Alan Giles.....Mr. West Dolores Drake.....Waitress Howard Storey.....Mr. Golfer June B. Wilde.....Mrs. Golfer Susan Bonham.....Ivy Hotel Waitress Kathryn Kirkpatrick.....Tina The Cleaner Andrew Keilty.....Yoga Instructor	Production Companies Buena Vista Pictures Fragile Films Mumbo Jumbo Productions Prominent Features Scala Films Touchstone Pictures Distributors Buena Vista International (Argentina) Buena Vista International (UK) Buena Vista International Buena Vista Pictures Touchstone Pictures Technical Specifications Color info: Color Sound mix: DTS / Dolby Digital / SDDS Negative format: 35 mm Printed format: 35 mm Aspect ratio: 2.35 : 1

MUSIC: Look For Hope - Roland Gift St Peter's Rendezvous - The Warratahs Jesus Says - Ash All The Small Things - blink182 I'm Not In Love - Fun Lovin' Criminals Till The Day I Die - Garbage Am I Blue - Willie Nelson Give It Away - Zero7 String Quartet in B flat Major - The Hunt - Mozart State Occasion - RAF Brass and Wind Band High And Dry - The Warratahs All You Ever Do Is Bring Me Down - The Mavericks I Love You - Asie Payton *I Love It When We Do - Ronan Keating

Reviewed by Neil Smith
Updated 07 May 2003

Charles Webb remains best known for his 1962 debut novel "The Graduate", famously filmed in 1967 with Dustin Hoffman. He has not exactly been prolific since, but the proceeds from this adaptation of his 2001 book "New Cardiff" - his first in 25 years - will no doubt make his reclusive life in Brighton a little bit more comfortable.
Named after the picturesque New England town in which it's set ("18,459 people live in Hope" reads a sign), "Hope Springs" tells of an English illustrator called Colin (Colin Firth) who - heartbroken at being dumped by his fiancée Vera (Minnie Driver) - heads to America to start again.
Colin's matchmaking landlady Joanie (Mary Steenburgen) introduces him to "trained care-giver" Mandy (Heather Graham), who soon breaks through his English reserve with a combination of vivacity, nudity, and alcohol. But when Vera arrives requesting a reconciliation, he is forced to make a difficult decision.
It's a dilemma most warm-blooded men would kill to face - horny Heather or Minnie the Minx? - and the love triangle throws up some amusing situations that compensate for the numerous lapses in logic and pacing.
Firth's character may be something of a pill to begin with, but once he lightens up, he emerges as a deft and affable leading man.
It's also good to see supporting roles filled by such reliable talents as Steenburgen and Oliver Platt, a hoot as Hope's venal mayor.
All in all, a date movie that's well worth making a date with.

I finally got to see this movie almost a year after its' theatrical release. As it was never shown in the US I was amongst many Colin Firth fans that were highly disappointed at the non-release. So can I be totally objective? Probably not. I do my best, but anything where he is concerned is hard to be non partial. If you are a fan I am sure you understand this.

So let's give this a try shall we? Yes Colin is gorgeous throughout. At first look it was not the world's greatest movie, but it worked for me. Then I watched again and again and again. Now, It's in my top ten favorites. He smiles, he yells, he cries, he dances, and he gets semi-naked. I died over the beach scene with the yellow (sunlight) draping him and the slow pan from his knees to his face. You see something a bit special, then when he breaths as they get up to his head and you see his chest expand and contract. What a moment. OI! Well - the bare chest suffices, to say the least. Several times too. And being in just the towel and dropping his pants makes you want to help him take them the rest of the way off. AHHHHHHHHHH! He does have comedic timing, more subtle and understated like he does in BJD and LA. These are not Hugh Grant moments but they work well for him. It's how he does comedy best.

The one drawback - he is paired with a woman you could never see him with. Heather Graham. Well, she does ok as Mandy though I'd much rather had seen him with someone slightly older and with a little more chemistry going on between the two. Minnie Driver is excellent as Vera - his ex-fiancée and I loved Mary Steenburgen and Frank Collison in this.

darkteilani
Munich, Germany
15 March 2004
Summary: Hilariously funny!!!
*!!Warning! Spoilers!!*

I can understand that some people don't like this movie. Maybe they are likely to take everything too seriously. This movie is full of stereotypes. Yes, and this can be quite annoying when it's without irony and the necessary tongue in cheek.

But in this movie it's done brilliantly! Nobody takes him or herself too seriously. This is a romantic, funny feel-good-movie. It doesn't claim to be educational. It's aim is to be entertaining. And the brilliant cast and crew achieve this aim 100%!

Is it true to the book? By all means! Is it even more funny than the book? Oh, yessssss!!!

The movie has the timing which the book really hasn't. The book is almost completely written in dialogue which is sometimes tiresome.

I cannot imagine anything more funny than Colin Firth with his trousers around his ankles (and no underwear) contemplating about the innocent kind of joy and the other one..... (and then finally hopping to the bed just in case they would decide to go for the "non-innocent kind"....).

If you expect high quality discussions, profound and accurate insights into British and American culture, well, then you must be disappointed.

In this movie every cliché is built up to the extreme, in a most funny way.

Maybe also as a parody on all the prejudices we hide deep inside. Sometimes such extreme caricatures are in fact more effective and educational than any scientific report. And when you are able to laugh at the characters you don't have to feel that anybody's pointing the finger at you.

I for my part enjoyed myself a lot! I loved the performances of everybody, especially of Colin Firth (O.k., I always love him!) and Mary Steenburgen.

When I feel depressed this is the movie I choose to cheer me up!