Only You

On a whim I ordered Only You from Netflix, I was pleasantly surprised. Faith is a little girl when she plays the Ouija board with her brother and asks it who her soul mate is, Faith gets the name “Damon Bradley”; as a teen she goes to a fortune teller and gets the same name which further enforces to Faith that a man named Damon Bradley is a powerful force in her future.

Now in her 20’s Faith is an English teacher who is engaged to be married, not to a man named Damon but to a podiatrist and the only ones that still know about Damon are her best friends including her sister in law Kate. 10 days before the wedding a friend of the groom calls Faith to cancel his RSVP because he has to go to Italy and it turns out his name is Damon Bradley. Faith decides to impulsively fly to Italy and track down Damon so she can at least get a look at him before she marries the podiatrist and Kate tags along. What follows is an impulsive journey that leads Kate to her real soul mate, but what she doesn’t know is that this man may not be Damon Bradley.

What is so enjoyable about Only You is that it feels like a classic Hollywood film from the 1950’s; the lovers are a perfect match, the conflict is complete and real, and the film is steeped in classic movie references. Just from my first viewing I recognized homages to Cinderella, Casablanca, Roman Holiday and a few others.

I must also say that as much as I really love Robert Downey Jr., I really rented this movie so I could see Bonnie Hunt. Ever since Jerry Maguire I have been in love with her sarcastic, no nonsense style of comedy and she is probably one of my favorite actresses. In Only You Bonnie does not disappoint and if I could choose a sister in law I would want one like her.

While this movie probably plays more to women than men I do have to say that this movie is a very fun watch, and an all around good, light-hearted film. Eventually, I see Only You being added to my DVD collection.

Director: Norman Jewison
Writer: Diane Drake
Faith: Marisa Tomei
Peter: Robert Downey Jr.
Kate: Bonnie Hunt
Giovanni: Joaquim de Almeida
Larry: Fisher Stevens
Damon Bradley/Harry: Billy Zane

Faith Corvatch: Why couldn't we just have arranged marriages in America?
Kate Corvatch: Yeah, at least you could spend the rest of your life blaming your parents instead of yourself.