Imagine Me & You
| Imagine Me & You | |
|---|---|
 Theatrical release poster |
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| Directed by | Ol Parker |
| Produced by | Barnaby Thompson |
| Written by | Ol Parker |
| Starring | Piper Perabo Lena Headey Matthew Goode Celia Imrie Anthony Head |
| Music by | Alex Heffes |
| Cinematography | Ben Davis |
| Editing by | Alex Mackie |
| Distributed by | Fox Searchlight Pictures Focus Features BBC Films |
| Release date(s) |
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| Running time | 94 minutes |
| Country | United Kingdom United States |
| Language | English |
| Box office | $2,635,305[1] |
Imagine Me & You is a 2005 British-American comedy-romance film written and directed by Ol Parker. It centres on the relationship between Rachel (Piper Perabo) and Luce (Lena Headey), who meet on Rachel's wedding day.
The movie takes its title from the first line of the song "Happy Together". Writer/director Ol Parker reveals on the DVD audio commentary that the movie was originally titled Click, after the French term for love at first sight, but conflicts with the 2006 Adam Sandler film Click necessitated the name change.
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Plot [edit]
The film opens on Rachel (Piper Perabo) and Hector's (Matthew Goode) wedding day in North London, England. Rachel's bossy mother Tess (Celia Imrie) and dazed dad Ned (Anthony Head) are introduced. Luce, (Lena Headey) who manages a flower shop, is the wedding florist. She also makes fast friends with Rachel's younger sister Henrietta (nicknamed "H" because, according to Henrietta, her mother exclaimed "Jesus H. Christ!" upon discovering she was pregnant). However, as Rachel is walking up the aisle, her eyes meet Luce's and a connection is made.
Some time later, Luce is invited to dinner with Rachel, Heck, and Coop (Darren Boyd), Heck's best friend and a perennial bachelor. Rachel suggests they fix up Luce with Coop, until Luce mentions that she's a lesbian. Heck takes this news in stride and Coop is undeterred in his good-natured attempts to seduce Luce.
While Heck works long hours at his increasingly unsatisfying office job, he encourages Rachel to be friends with Luce. The two spend an evening together, visiting a football match and an arcade, which becomes the setting for a Dance Dance Revolution sequence. At the end of the night, Luce walks Rachel back to her flat. Their goodbye grows awkward from tension, then Rachel leans forward to kiss Luce, but withdraws at the last moment and leaves.
Over the next few days, Rachel continues to deny her growing attraction to Luce in an effort to remain loyal to Heck. For her part, Luce has no wish to break up a committed couple. Unable to deny what she is feeling, Rachel eventually confronts Luce directly at her flower shop. She tells Luce that a romance between them cannot happen, leaves, and abruptly returns seconds later to kiss Luce in the back of Luce's shop. Their foreplay gets interrupted by Heck, who has stopped by to pick up flowers for Rachel. He tells Luce that he has sensed the distance growing between him and Rachel and partially blames himself for not being there for her. Hearing this, Rachel runs off, later sorrowfully agreeing with Luce that they can't betray Heck. In the meantime, Heck reaches his breaking point at his job and finally quits. When he returns home drunk, Rachel rashly confesses all to him as he sleeps, but without saying who her love is. Heck, who was actually feigning sleep, later calls Coop for support. Coop angrily confronts Luce after figuring out it was her with whom Rachel fell in love. Luce decides that being near Rachel without being with her is too hard. She makes plans to go on an extended trip out of the country, leaving care of her shop to her mother.
When Rachel and Heck are celebrating her birthday at her parents', H tells them about Luce's trip. Heck notices Rachel's reaction to the news and figures out that it was Luce with whom Rachel fell in love. Heck does not want to be her second choice or to live a lie, so he leaves. Rachel then confesses to her parents that she is in love with a woman and, with their help, she tracks down Luce, who has already taken a taxi to the airport. Rachel gets stuck in traffic and tries to call Luce, who ignores her, and all seems lost. However, Rachel realizes Luce is in the same traffic jam and uses the lessons Luce taught her about yelling loudly to call to her. The two women reunite and kiss each other in the middle of a crowded London street.
In a post credits coda, we see the characters some time later. Heck is on a plane to an unknown destination, all set to write his travel book, when he discovers that a young woman (Angel Coulby) will sit next to him for the long flight. There is an obvious and immediate attraction, and nervous flirtation, between them. The scenes continue with H and her young boyfriend playing at a playground, Coop holding a baby, and Luce and Rachel enjoying each other's company.
Cast [edit]
- Piper Perabo as Rachel
- Lena Headey as Luce
- Matthew Goode as Heck
- Celia Imrie as Tessa
- Anthony Head as Ned
- Darren Boyd as Cooper
- Sue Johnston as Ella
- Boo Jackson as H (Henrietta)
- Sharon Horgan as Beth
- Eva Birthistle as Edie
- Vinette Robinson as Zina
- Ben Miles as Rob
- Mona Hammond as Mrs. Edwards
- Rick Warden as Gordon
Reception [edit]
Box office [edit]
- On January 27, 2006 the film opened in 106 theaters in the USA. In its opening weekend, the film made 51,907 USD. It stayed eight weeks on theaters in the USA and made 672,243 USD in total.[1]
- In the Netherlands, the film grossed over €97,470, debuting at #10 in its second week.
- Worldwide the film grossed over 2,635,305 USD.[1]
Critical response [edit]
![[icon]](/wiki/File:Wiki_letter_w_cropped.svg){kind=small} |
This section requires expansion. (June 2012) |
Imagine me & you was given a score of 32% on the movie review aggregator site Rotten Tomatoes, based on 96 reviews.
Luce and Rachel were both included in AfterEllen.com's Top 50 Lesbian and Bisexual Characters.[2][3]
References [edit]
- ^ a b c Box office mojo
- ^ "AfterEllen.com’s Top 50 Lesbian and Bisexual Characters". AfterEllen.com. March 15, 2010. p. 2. Retrieved June 16, 2012.
- ^ "AfterEllen.com’s Top 50 Lesbian and Bisexual Characters". AfterEllen.com. March 15, 2010. p. 8. Retrieved June 16, 2012.
External links [edit]
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Wikiquote has a collection of quotations related to: Imagine Me & You |
