The Very Thought of You (Martha, Meet Frank, Daniel and Laurence) (1998)
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33% of critics liked it
(9 reviews) -
56% of users liked it
(5,181 ratings)
Nick Hamm (Talk of Angels) directed this U.K. romantic comedy following a group of British blokes and their encounters with an American woman in London. As Laurence (Joseph Fiennes, brother of Ralph Fiennes) narrates the tale to his neighbor, Dr. Pedersen (Ray Winstone), the scene flashes back to… More Nick Hamm (Talk of Angels) directed this U.K. romantic comedy following a group of British blokes and their encounters with an American woman in London. As Laurence (Joseph Fiennes, brother of Ralph Fiennes) narrates the tale to his neighbor, Dr. Pedersen (Ray Winstone), the scene flashes back to three days earlier: Laurence's friend Daniel (Tom Hollander) is in the Minneapolis airport on a business trip when he spots blonde Martha (Monica Potter of Con Air) buying a "first flight to anywhere." Daniel sits next to her on the plane and makes a London lunch date with her for the following day, but she's a no-show. He expresses his disappointment to Laurence and unemployed actor Frank (Rufus Sewell of Cold Comfort Farm). Frank meets Martha accidentally in a park, realizes who she is, learns she's in love and she intends to fly back to the U.S., and then makes a move on her (without telling her he knows Daniel). He loses track of her at an art gallery. Later, Laurence reveals that when he missed meeting Daniel at the airport, he wound up meeting Martha instead -- a moment of mutual love. At this point, much like the structure of Stanley Kubrick's The Killing (1956), the time is reset and previous events are repeated -- from the POV of another character. The movie is only two-thirds complete when Laurence finishes his recap of the previous three days -- so the story continues from that point. Shown at the 1998 Cannes Film Festival. ~ Bhob Stewart, Rovi
- Directed By
- Nick Hamm
- Written By
- Peter Morgan
- Genres
- Drama, Romance, Art House & International, Comedy
- In Theaters
- Aug 27, 1999 Wide
- Studio
- Miramax
Critic Reviews
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Clint Morris, Moviehole
Potter marks her ground as one of today's finest leading ladies
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Rich Cline, Shadows on the Wall
Enjoyable but uneven.
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Shirley Sealy, Film Journal International
Even Julia [Roberts] and Hugh [Grant] would have had a hard time putting any spark into the two weakly drawn lovers at the heart of this film.
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Michael Dequina, TheMovieReport.com
I would have liked to see Potter and Fiennes in a more straightforward love story without all the mechanical silliness.
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Cast
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Monica Potter
as Martha
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Rufus Sewell
as Frank
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Tom Hollander
as Daniel
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Joseph Fiennes
as Laurence
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Ray Winstone
as Dr. Pedersen