Imagine Me and You (R, 2006)

Rachel (Piper Perabo) is about to marry her long-time boyfriend Heck (Matthew Goode). She's dressed and ready to go, her dottering and depressed father (played by the divine Anthony Head) and acerbic mother (Celia Imrie) are prepared and all are giddy. That is, until beautiful florist Luce (Lena Headey) charms Rachel's young sister and bewitches Rachel. Rachel learns that Luce is a lesbian and the two women grapple with an attraction that neither of them really wants to consummate.

Thank heaven for British romantic comedies. Less crude than their American counterparts and more witty and charming, they show the joy in falling in love. IMAGINE ME AND YOU is a worthy addition to this pantheon. What's refreshing about this movie is that every character is interesting and loveable -- even the womanizing Cooper (Daren Boyd). Unlike other lesbian romantic comedies with a married woman in its premise, the husband here is more than a plot device. Instead, Heck is a real character that everyone -- the audience, Rachel, and Luce included -- cares about. And in so doing, they must face a real dilemma: Can they "walk away," as Luce suggests? Can Rachel stay in a friendly but passionless marriage out of fidelity to her husband? Should she?

What the film discovers is that that kind of a lie makes everyone miserable. "It's not you leaving that's going to kill me," Heck says, destroyed and angry. "It's you loving someone more." In this way, Imagine You and Me avoids the unrealistic plot devices and gimmicks of other romantic comedies and creates a realistic world in which we'd all like to live -- full of compassion, comedy, flirting, and charm.