Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #7400 in DVD
• Released on: 2004-02-02
• Rating: Suitable for 12 years and over
• Number of discs: 1
• Format: PAL
• Original language: English
• Number of discs: 1
• Running time: 88 minutes

Special Features

• Making of … featurette

DVD Technical Information:

• Soundtrack: Dolby Digital 2.0 Surround (Spanish)/Dolby Digital 5.1 (English)
  
• Subtitles: Arabic, Croatian, Danish, English, English for the hearing impaired, Finnish, Norwegian, Slovenian, Spanish, Swedish
  
• Running Time: 88 mins
  
• Region Code: 2
  
• Aspect Ratio: 2.35 Wide Screen

Synopsis
Based on the novel 'New Cardiff by Charles Webb, this is the story of British artist, Colin Ware who is heartbroken after receiving a invitation to the wedding of Vera, the love of his life. Colin moves to a little town in New England called Hope in order to deal with his grief and soon he falls in love with Mandy, a local nurse. However, soon Vera shows up after deciding that she wants him back...

Customer Reviews

Sweet
This is a sweet comedy that is unlikely to make you laugh out loud but should make you smile.

The three sides of the love triangle Firth/Graham/Driver are well cast, with Driver being especially good as the ex (sort of) fiancee who just refuses to let go of the ever lovely Firth who, having fled to the States to try and get over the break up of his engagement, finds himself more interested in Graham's character than trying to patch up his old relationship. The support cast is also funny and quirky as the inhabitants of a small American town fascinated by newcomer Firth. You get the feeling that the cast had fun making it.

It's not perfect - it lags a bit in the middle, although the beginning and end are well paced. I also felt that although we were meant to feel the strongest bond with Graham's character it was not as fleshed out as it could have been or as strong, so she came out as a little dull compared to Driver. Others may disagree.

The extras include a run-of-the-mill 'making of' feature.

If you like gentle romantic comedy and have a fondness for Colin Firth then you will almost certainly like this.

Underated And Amusing, Not Hopeless And Dire
When 'Hope Springs' came out at the cinema it was given pretty harsh reviews. Critics claimed the film was a dire rehash of other romantic comedies with leads that were obviously second choices for their parts. I'd like to dispute this.
The setup is as follows. Colin Firth plays a man trying to escape from his past and his feelings for his old girlfriend Minnie Driver. He comes to the small town of Hope in America and without even trying falls into a relationship with Heather Graham.
He discovers the people in the town are taking to this eccentric Englishman and becomes involved in their plans and schemes for the future. Even though he's running away from life he finds himself embracing the place and trying to make his relationship with the eccentric Miss Graham work.
The last thing he needs then is the return of his ex, who has her own motives in wanting to win him back.
What really makes this film work are the supurb performances. In the lead roles the three performers all excell. Colin Firth displays all the charm he brought to the screen in 'Love Actually' and 'What A Girl Wants', Heather Graham is as kooky and stunning as she was in 'The Spy Who Shagged Me' and 'Boogie Nights' and Minnie Driver shows the same excellent comic timing that she had in 'An Ideal Husband' and 'Good Will Hunting'.
Add to this the support of such scene stealers as Oliver Pratt and Mary Steenburgen and you have a romantic comedy that can't fail to charm fans of the genre.
It will bring a smile to your face and put hope in your heart.

Extremely enjoyable
There are films that are epic demonstrations of how conventional cinema can be pushed beyond the 'limits' of it's time, such as Star Wars in its day, Lord of the Rings over the last couple of years, and other such films. 'Hope Springs' does not pretend to be anything revolutionary or a means of advancing the art of cinema. It is very simply a romantic comedy formed around an age-old method of a love triangle. And there is absolutely nothing wrong with that.

Sometimes, you don't want a film to lecture you with moral lessons or teach you about history. You just want entertainment for the sake of entertainment, which is what you are given with this DVD. You can read the synopsis of the plot above, so I won't bore you by repeating that. All I can do is say that in my opinion, this is an extremely enjoyable film with subtle but very funny comedy, a touching and slightly complicated love story, and excellent performances from the three leads and the supporting cast to bring it all together. Have a look at this one. You won't regret it.