Gerry is a man who moves about in the heavy air of lies. Jeanne Tripplehorn's Lydia is also too simplistic a villain. John Hannah's James, on the other hand, is a compendium of pleasures. Gentle, thoughtful, funny, kind, and sensible enough to stay quiet in the silences, he's a good man without an agenda. With James, even the image of a shared milkshake is poignant.
Life becomes radiant.
Gwyneth Paltrow has already proven that she is thoroughly versatile in affecting the looks and assuming the moods of nearly any character. Here she is playing a British career professional caught in the spirals of deceit and honor, betrayal and loyalty, that derail so many men and women. The two Helens of this movie both suffer, and Paltrow plays them deftly as each is spun this way and that by the small accidents of fate that tie these stories together so beautifully. For this musing about fate, choice, and coincidence, Peter Howitt and his fine cast take to the task with relish. Together, they mine the humor in the tangled emotional webs of contemporary courtship.