Above, left to right, Marianne Muellerleile as Sophie, William Bronder as Wally, Eddie Jones as Emmett, Carroll O’Connor
as Marty and Robert Loggia as Angelo.
Hunt, who co-starred in such hits as Jerry Maguire and Jumanji, is not only making her directorial debut with Return to Me but is also juggling the roles of co-screenwriter, producer and co-star, a challenge she feels more than adept at handling. “Look, I grew up as one of seven kids so I am used to team work,” she laughs. When initially approached to direct the movie, she responded to the idea but not the script. The studio wanted to do a heart transplant story, but Hunt felt that the emphasis should be more in the vein of a love story.
Along with Don Lake, she recrafted the script into a homage to her childhood and family, even going so far as to cast all her siblings in small roles, much to the chagrin of the unions.
 Jim Belushi as Joe and Bonnie Hunt as Megan.
|
The Screen Actors Guild threatened to fine her $5,000 for hiring non-union actors. “Now my big problem is that I can’t edit any one of them out,” she laughs.
As for the title, Return to Me refers to the Dean Martin song of the same name, which was her parent’s anniversary song. “This is my love letter to them,” says Hunt.
“It’s the most
optimistic of movies. It’s a very simple story that just has this
force to it”
David Duchovny
|
Shying away from the ‘disease-of-the-week’ approach of some television movies, the director sees the film as an old-fashioned fairy tale. “It’s really about fate and spirituality and life,” she says. “It’s not even a medical movie. It’s more of a ‘what if’ you found yourself in this kind of situation.”
Duchovny agrees: “I really believe it’s the most optimistic of movies. It’s a very simple story that just has this force to it. The only problem I see with it is that this guy can only fall in love with this one heart.”
As to that heart and the trauma that transplant patients go through, actress Minnie Driver spent time with several women in Los Angeles who have undergone the procedure. “The first thing you pick up,” she notes, “is the gratitude and fear. They were so close to death that, when they got this new heart, they had a guilt about it. One day, they might get so depressed because they realise how they got this second chance.”
Minnie Driver as Grace and David Duchovny as Bob |
The Academy Award-nominated actress reveals that she was initially squeamish about the concept. “I was like 90% of the people who wonder, ‘What if I am not really dead and they take my organs?’” she says. “It is the most common attitude that people have about it and I have to admit I felt the same way. It’s sort of like Rosemary’s Baby where something terrible could happen.”
|
