Colin Ware (Colin Firth) is heartbroken after receiving a wedding invitation to the wedding of his long-time girlfriend Vera Edwards (Minnie Driver) to someone else. He travels across the Atlantic to a small American town called Hope based solely on its name. He intends to paint portraits of the locals. Innkeeper Joanie Fisher (Mary Steenburgen) calls up Mandy (Heather Graham) to repair Colin's emotional trauma. She drives him to the local garden called Hope Springs.

It's fine as a basic MPDG rescue of a broken man-boy. The trouble starts with the arrival of Vera. It never makes any sense why Colin keeps on meeting up with Vera. It's a bad way to write misunderstandings to separate Mandy from Colin. I do like some of the quirky bits. Graham does quirky MPDG well. I like Driver as crazy but she could be crazier. I like all three actors. The story needs some work. While it has some quirkiness, non of it is actually funny.

British artist, broken-hearted over the dissolution of his engagement to a brash Welsh sexpot, comes to America to relieve his sorrows; he picks the city of Hope ("18,459 people live in Hope") to begin a series of charcoal sketches on the locals, and naturally meets a new girl anxious to help him get over his lost love. Writer-director Mark Herman, adapting his script from the novel "New Cardiff" by Charles Webb (author of "The Graduate"),begins his film with a few "Graduate"-styled visual touches which are quite clever (see if you can find them). His use of soundtrack music is a bit jarring, and the editing seems flagrantly sloppy in the movie's early stages, but these faults are quickly corrected as the characters take shape. In the lead, Colin Firth works his scruffy adorableness to wonderful advantage; with his slightly crooked mouth and low-keyed impatience, he's amusingly antsy and befuddled. The ladies in his life (Heather Graham and Minnie Driver) compliment Firth nicely, while the screwballs who dot the supporting cast are enjoyable without being overtly colorful. We've been down this road before (boy-loses-girl, boy-meets-new-girl, first-girl-comes-back),and a story thread involving a faked family tree doesn't quite come to fruition, but the rest of "Hope Springs" is daffy, frisky, and often funny. *** from ****

Hope Springs is directed by Mark Herman, who also writes the screenplay from the novel "New Cardiff" written by Charles Webb. It stars Colin Firth, Heather Graham, Minnie Driver, Mary Steenburgen, Frank Collison and Oliver Platt. Shot on location in British Columbia, photography is by Ashley Rowe and the music by John Altman. Plot sees Firth as a depressed artist, who after being dumped by his fiancée, Vera (Driver),retreats to little town Vermont for some R & R. However, when he meets odd care home nurse Mandy (Graham),an unlikely romance begins to form, but Vera turns up to try and put a spanner in the works.

The sort of film that you watch because there is nothing else on and you want a light and breezy time filler before going to bed. For an hour, Herman's film delivers on its quirky promise, boasting genuine laughs, good acting performances and a zippy soundtrack (Ash/Blink 182/Garbage). But then it runs out of steam and you find yourself wondering just what is the point of the central romance? Is it just a case of two people finding each other in unusual circumstances? Because, like, love is everywhere! These basic rom-com values are easy to stomach (why else watch a rom-com?),as long as the comedy is broad and fills out the narrative to the end. But that doesn't happen here and the supporting character actors are badly wasted: very annoying in the case of Steenburgen, who playing the foxy/slinky hotel owner had a character that had the potential to provide more laughs in the story.

On the plus side it's good fare from Firth, even tho it's about as challenging as asking him to read a book, and Graham can't be accused of lacking gusto and petite charm. While "Mr Unique Face" Frank Collison gets a bit more dialogue than he usually does in films. There's also much to enjoy with Ashley Rowe's photography, some lovely choice of colour lenses for the Autumnal back drop. It's a blip on the CV of director Herman, a CV that boasts the likes of Brassed Off, Little Voice & The Boy in the Stripped Pyjamas, but you sense that the material could have made for a great movie. But what started off so well sadly descends into being laborious and unadventurous. 5/10