Cady's Take:

Colin Firth is a sketch artist from London. He comes to the U.S. to seek solace in the town of Hope, trying to get over a particularly harsh break-up, and then finding the much different, free spirited Mandy(Heather Graham) as his new muse. Mandy is a beautiful blonde who tries to seduce him within eight minutes, drinks half a bottle of malt liquor within twelve minutes, and then strips naked within fifteen minutes. So, of course, she'd be our romantic female lead.

Vera (Minnie Driver), Colin's fiancee, soon arrives wanting him to return to England with her. It then turns into one of those awful movies where someone has to get hurt in order for the two leads to get together. In order to do that, they try and make Minnie's character as horrible as possible, but fail dismally.

The supporting roles were filled by wonderfully reliable talents Mary Steenburgen and Oliver Platt. For the life of me I cannot figure out why they decided to star in this movie! This film was entirely illogical from start to finish, with a minimal amount of humor.

Hope Springs was such a disappointment. The directing is non-existent. The Heather Graham character is miscast and it is downright dispiriting to find the other capable actors lending themselves to this meaningless, boring, contrived script. Don't waste your time.

If you want to watch a boring movie you will rent “Hope Springs”. A broken-hearted Englishman (Colin played by Colin Firth) comes to Hope, Vermont to forget his fiancee who jilted him. Colin meets a new, lovely girl named Mandy (Heather Graham) and she helps him forget his sassy, overbearing ex-fiancee Vera played by Minnie Driver. What a snoozer.

There are a few colorful characters who do not get nearly enough screen time: Mayor Reed played by Oliver Platt, and Frank and Joanie (Frank Collision and Mary Steenburgen). The townspeople provide a fun backdrop to an old story and I wish that the movie had focused a bit more closely on them. I find Heather Graham to be insufferable and while I like Minnie Driver, I did not find Vera to be particularly engaging or interesting.

Who ends up with whom? Believe me when I tell you that it does not matter, and if you actually rent this movie, after fifteen minutes or so you will not really care. Maybe Hope Springs but it did not spring for me.