Meanwhile, poor Grace (Minnie Driver) is a 30ish brunette who clings to life in a hospital bed. She is in need of a heart transplant. Her best friend is Megan (Bonnie Hunt), happily married with children to earthy and gregarious Joe (Jim Belushi). Grace's kindly Irish grandfather Marty (Carroll O'Connor) owns a successful Italian restaurant, where Angelo (Robert Loggia) is a cook, and where various other elderly folk work and loiter.
Elizabeth dies in a car accident that leaves (driver?) Bob unharmed. Elizabeth's organs are donated, and her heart goes to Grace, who makes a full recovery. A year later, Grace's friends and relations are anxious for her to begin dating. Bob's best friend, veterinarian Charlie (David Alan Grier), pushes for Bob to date as well.
But they meet the wrong people. Grace is beset with a man (Don Lake) fixated with his own hair plugs. Bob is also stuck with blind date Holly Wortell, who laughs too much and is unusually particular about her tonic water.
Bob and Grace have a momentary chance encounter at the zoo. They cross paths again at Marty's restaurant, where Grace works as a waitress. Predictably, there is a strong, mutual romantic connection between Bob and Grace, and soon they are a couple. Grace is reluctant to tell Bob that she has had a heart transplant. She eventually realizes that Bob's late wife is her donor, and is so freaked out by this that she flees to Italy, but not before revealing the whole truth to Bob.
Bob is also freaked out, but predictably, soon decides that she is the one anyway. He travels to Italy and joins her, to the delight of Grace's new nun friends. The long-anticipated happy ending arises.
How others will see it. This rom-com (with the emphasis on rom) was a critical favorite, but its box office success was modest. It was mostly overlooked by the prestigious film festivals. Today at imdb.com, it has a middling 16K user votes, and an okay user rating of 6.9 out of 10. The user rating does climb, though, to 7.5 from its target audience, women over 45, who are certain to find David Duchovny dreamy, and are likely to appreciate the happy ending.
How I felt about it. Those who have encountered The Hallmark Channel on cable, and seen a few of its romantic comedies, will find their roots in Return to Me, titled after a fortuitously forgotten Dean Martin hit song. The happy fate of Bob and Grace is sealed the moment their eyes meet at the Italian restaurant. The issues to be worked out are merely this film's version of the Great Misunderstanding, the standard plot device that briefly separates the cute, well intentioned, and right-for-each-other couple from their inevitable final reel reunion.
Return to Me is the product of its director, writer, and wise-cracking supporting actress, Bonnie Hunt, who performed similar duties for three of her television series, "Bonnie", "Life with Bonnie", and "The Bonnie Hunt Show". Her agent is probably making phone calls to the networks right now, hoping to green light the sitcom "Bonnie Again".
Return to Me was made for the person (presumably a woman of a certain age) who finds it hilarious that clueless Joe's shirt is off, in his own kitchen, where Grace is a guest. Just to let us know how hilarious the scene is, Megan and Grace can hardly control their laughter.
There is also a really sad scene where Bob's gentle giant of a dog pines patiently and futilely at the front door, waiting for the late Elizabeth's return. Aw-w-w. And we can't overlook the happy moment when Sydney gets his new jungle-like playground. How pleased Elizabeth would have been. And don't the three nuns have a precious look as they gaze happily at the reconciliation of lovers Bob and Grace. Whether such moments are compelling, or contrived, determine the credibility of the movie.