Themes: Love Triangles, Starting Over, Fish Out of Water
Main Cast: Colin Firth, Heather Graham, Minnie Driver, Mary Steenburgen, Oliver Platt
Release Year: 2003
Run Time: 92 minutes
MPAA Rating: PG13
Plot
Not a sequel to 1998's Hope Floats, Hope Springs is a romantic comedy based on the 2001 novel New Cardiff, the first new book in over 20 years by Charles Webb, author of The Graduate. Directed and written for the screen by Mark Herman (Brassed Off), the film stars Colin Firth as lovelorn British artist Colin Ware. After being left by his fiancée Vera (Minnie Driver), Colin takes to sulking about in a small Vermont hotel run by Joanie Fisher (Mary Steenburgen). When Joanie becomes aware of Colin's broken heart, she decides to match him up with a local woman named Mandy (Heather Graham). But just as romance begins to ensue between Colin and Mandy, Vera suddenly pops back into the picture with intentions of rekindling her relationship with Colin. Oliver Platt heads up the supporting cast that also includes Frank Collison and Chad Faust. ~ Matthew Tobey, All Movie Guide
Frank Collison - Fisher; Ken Kramer - Mr. Peterson; Mary Black - Mrs. Peterson; Chad Faust - Rob
Credit
Kelvin Humenny - Art Director, Deborah Aquila - Casting, Tricia Wood - Casting, Grace Gilroy - Co-producer, Trish Keating - Costume Designer, Jonathan Benson - First Assistant Director, Mark Herman - Director, Michael Ellis - Editor, Uri Fruchtman - Executive Producer, John Altman - Composer (Music Score), Rob Sutcliffe - Musical Direction/Supervision, Don Taylor - Production Designer, Ashley Rowe - Cinematographer, Barnaby Thompson - Producer, Eric Batut - Sound/Sound Designer, Mark Herman - Screenwriter, Charles Webb - Book Author
Hope Springs is a 2003 romantic-comedy film, based on the novel New Cardiff, by Charles Webb, about Colin (played by Colin Firth), an English painter who comes to the United States after a traumatic experience. It is there that he meets Mandy (Heather Graham), a nursing home worker who helps him get over the breakup between him and Vera (Minnie Driver). It was not a success at the box office. In Britain it made just over £1 million.[1] Criticism was also generally negative; the film receives only a 23% rating at Rotten Tomatoes.
Colin Ware: Main character. British painter who is emotionally upset after receiving the news that his long time girlfriend Vera is getting married.
Vera Jones: British scheming girlfriend of Colin who travels to America to get Colin back.
Mandy: Free-spirited American nursing home attendant who tries to help out Colin and eventually becomes his love interest.
Joanie Fisher: Hotel owner and Mandy's best friend.
Fisher: Husband of Joanie, gives advice to Colin.
Plot
When Colin arrives in Hope, Vermont, a patriotic town in Northeastern United States in the fall time, he checks into a hotel showing clear signs of emotional distress. The hotel manager, Joanie (Mary Steenburgen) sees the state he is in and calls over her friend Mandy to soothe him and take his mind off his troubles.
Colin and Mandy eventually fall in love with each other, Colin seeming to finally get over the loss of his fiancée Vera. Suddenly, Vera shows up in Hope and tries to get Colin back. Colin is no longer interested but Vera does not give up. Mandy sees the two together and assumes Colin took her back. After Colin promises never to talk to Mandy if she gets a passport Vera finally accepting she has lost her fiancée and becomes Queen of Hope at the town festival.
Joanie calls Mandy and says that Colin's cousin was supposed to meet him and that she should pick him up at Hope Springs. When Mandy gets there she finds it is Colin and he gives her an engagement ring and proposes.
Colin, all manly, carries her all the way back to the hotel where the movie ends.
While riding a double decker bus in one of the scenes, Colin and Mandy hold each other similar to the famous flying scene in Titanic, the double decker bus scene is in reference of the flying scene in the 1997 blockbuster movie, Titanic.
