Buzz: "Writer-director Randall Miller's heart-achingly sweet drama finds at its soft center Frank Keane (Robert Carlyle), a baker deeply despondent over the death of his wife. Frank finds redemption and hope in tragedy after he helps a stranger (John Goodman) who's sidelined by a fatal accident. It appears the man was on his way to a fateful reunion, so Frank, sparked only by good intentions, decides to show up for the rendezvous in his place."
I don't know where this came from -- I'd never heard of it before, I don't remember putting it in my Netflix queue, and I don't know how it got to the top of the queue without my noticing. The cast list is leggy: Mary Steenburgen, Sonia Braga, Sean Astin, Marisa Tomei, Adam Arkin, David Paymer, and Donnie Wahlberg are all packed in there, and it's not really an ensemble piece. But that's not an upside -- they're mostly wasted.
The story is implausible, and even more implausibly told, but it's all just an excuse to get Carlyle's character into these social situations, and give us a chance to get to know him. I could forgive it that, if the story was more compelling, but it's just not. I can't say whether it failed more in plan or execution -- there are lots of movies that have fantastical plots, but work nevertheless because of something deeper. Not that I tend to like those movies, mind you. I still can't get anyone to explain to me why Forrest Gump was such an Academy favorite. Or Cast Away, for that matter.
Anyway, this isn't a winner. Steenburgen seems out of place, even if she is lovely to watch, but it's almost like she's in a different movie. Robert Carlyle is intriguing, but nothing else really supports him well enough, including the script. Yuk, overall.
104 minutes.
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