Elizabeth, an ambitious medical intern clocks at least a working hour of twenty, and had she not been told off by her supervisor to get some sleep, she would go on and on with her work. The true workaholic, she has no time for herself, to her sister’s consternation albeit relentlessly setting her up with guys. On the night of yet another blind date, Elizabeth meets an accident.
David, a landscape architect, is in search of a new apartment in San Francisco, and his only concern is that the apartment better have a nice couch. After finding a pretty apartment, with a low lease, a spectacular rooftop view, and a comfortable couch, he is free to mourn the death of his wife, Laura. Except that Elizabeth insists he not do it in her apartment. David thinks she is just a creation of his alcohol-infested brain. But it becomes all too clear that Elizabeth, who cannot remember anything from her past, is not a figment of his imagination, but a restless spirit who brought along, even with her death, her control-freak nature.
David ignores Elizabeth but this is hard work, so he reluctantly teams up with her in finding out who she was. A couple of questions from neighbours did not yield any result, Elizabeth being the ultimate recluse. As one neighbour says of her: She was like a cat lady with no cats. An incident at a restaurant, however, jars Elizabeth’s memory and they soon find out that she’s not dead but is in a coma, and has been for three months. What’s more, Elizabeth’s sister was prevailed upon to sign the papers authorizing the hospital to pull the plug. David, now in love with Elizabeth although he does not recognize this yet, is bent on making people understand that Elizabeth is alive and pulling the plug will be a big mistake. When no one would listen, he solicits the help of a friend in a little body-snatching, which would have been successful had not the friend inadvertently pulled Elizabeth’s life support. Before David’s very eyes, Elizabeth’s spirit is fading. Desperate for any action, he kisses Elizabeth and suddenly, the woman comes to life. All should have been well but Elizabeth, now alive, doesn’t remember David.
Months later, Elizabeth returns to her apartment and on the roof, she finds her dream garden. She also finds David there tending the garden, and although Elizabeth tries her best to search her memory for any glimpse of this guy before her, she still does not remember him. Until he touches her hand. A deluge of David images flood her memories, and needless to say, they end up together.
Nice is the word that comes to mind when asked to briefly describe the movie. Nice characters played by really sweet actors, and a nice plot although one has to suspend his disbelief when watching this movie. The trick is to just accept the story as it is, and surprisingly, you’ll find that it’s all too sweet and even funny when you allow yourself to let go the harsh critic in you. Mark Ruffalo, as David, was such the sweetheart in this movie that I instantly fell in love with him. Reese Witherspoon was the perfect Elizabeth and the two made such a lovely pair, it’s excruciating to watch them drift apart. But the winner in this movie was the funny dialogue, courtesy of Peter Tolan and Leslie Dixon.
It’s a nice movie to watch again, probably in three months or so when the stress and pressure of work press on you from all sides. It’s nice to just lounge around the house, pop this into your player, and be carried away by the sweet story of David and Elizabeth.
Righteous.
