BEFORE: Speaking of being in the right place at the right time, I think that's what this film's title means...
THE PLOT: A couple reunite years after the night they first met, fell in love, and separated, convinced that one day they'd end up together.
AFTER: Actually, the word means "a fortunate accident", like accidentally watching the third John Cusack film in a row (I suppose unconsciously I must have known he was in this...) or picking a film that illustrates the points I've been making this week in the rom-com debate between destiny and free will in picking romantic partners.
It's also the name of a chocolate-shop in Manhattan, where Jonathan (Cusack) and Sara (Kate Beckinsale) go, after trying to buy the same pair of gloves in Bloomingdale's. They manage to visit a number of scenic NYC locations, such as Central Park and the Waldorf-Astoria hotel, in their first evening together, before separating. After all, he's got a girlfriend, and she has a boyfriend, so they split before things get too serious, figuring that if they're meant to be together, fate will make it happen.
So he writes his phone number on a $5 bill and buys some mints, figuring that the bill will eventually circulate back to her (because that's likely...) and she writes her phone number in a book, which she sells to a used bookstore - so he's supposed to walk into a bookstore every time he passes one, hoping to find the right copy of that book. If you try to calculate the odds of both of these things happening (outside of a movie, of course) at a time in their lives when they're BOTH looking for each other, you'd go bonkers.
They go back to their lives, and get engaged to others, but there's always that "What if?" notion in the back of their minds. So the audience can debate whether that doubt sabotaged their relationships, or whether the real relationships couldn't possibly live up to the imagined ones - based on a magical, unduplicatable evening with a stranger.
Despite the longest of longshot coincidences, I found myself enjoying this one - clearly the best rom-com I've seen this week.
Also starring Jeremy Piven, Molly Shannon, John Corbett and Bridget Moynihan ("I, Robot") with cameos from Eugene Levy and Buck Henry.
RATING: 7 out of 10 frozen hot chocolates
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