Review: Only You

Marisa Tomei is the new Audrey Hepburn. At least that's what the creators of Only You want us to believe.

Cast on the strength of her 1992 Best Supporting Actress Oscar win for My Cousin Vinny, Tomei is coddled by the seemingly moonstruck production team. Sporting a sleek Jean Seberg crop and decked out in outfits that range from casual chic to hip glamour, she is presented as every inch the star -- with the added help of makeup, lighting and great camera angles. The film is meant to be a star vehicle. Unfortunately, Tomei isn't up to par.

Tomei plays Faith Corvatch, who learned the name of her destined soulmate, Damon Bradley, as a little girl. Despite her belief in fate, she agrees to marry Dwayne (John Benjamin Hickey), a podiatrist whose idea of a romantic proposal is to turn off his beeper. Days before her wedding, Faith receives a phone call from Dwayne's old schoolmate whose name is -- you guessed it -- Damon Bradley. One immediate problem: Damon is on his way to Italy. Impulsively, Faith rushes to the airport, a long black coat thrown over the wedding dress she was trying on. When she misses his plane, she boards another one, her best friend and sister-in-law (Beethoven's Bonnie Hunt, dryly hilarious here) in tow.

Once in Italy, they continue their pursuit of the elusive Mr. Bradley. In Rome, they meet Giovanni (the ingratiating Joaquim de Almeida, last seen in Clear and Present Danger), a suave charmer who falls for the unhappily married Kate. Finally (thank God), Faith bumps into her Prince Charming (Robert Downey, Jr.) who claims to be Damon Bradley but is actually Peter Wright, a shoe salesman so perfect for Faith that she spends the rest of the film ignoring him.

The film, written by Diane Drake, is a standard love story that strives to be to many things at once: Cinderella story, the return of Sleepless in Seattle, a modern-day Roman Holiday. It tries too hard to be a timeless romantic tale. However, classic love stories aren't manufactured or thrust upon an audience. They just are.

Director Norman Jewison (is this the same man who directed the stylish romantic caper The Thomas Crown Affair?) only exacerbates the problem by inserting too many shots of the moon (probably leftover shots from Moonstruck) and people's feet (to reinforce the Cinderella aspect). At least he had the good sense to hire legendary cinematographer Sven Nykvist (who has collaborated with such filmmakers as Woody Allen, Ingmar Bergman, Louis Malle, John Huston, and Bob Fosse). Nykvist's Oscar-winning style is apparent here: his lucid cinematography makes most of the Italian locales seem like portraits come to life.

Ultimately the success of any love story comes down to the two leads. Together, Tomei and Downey, Jr. make a cute couple but they lack the most crucial and essential ingredient: chemistry. Theirs is minimal at best, yet the screenplay keeps insisting that these two are meant for one another. Tomei's chipmunk cheeks and half-pucker of a mouth contain one of the most contagious laughs in the business. It is intrinsically adorable but this trait backfires in Only You. Her performance is comprised of little more than moony, misty-eyed sighing and swooning. It takes a certain kind of star to make a plot like this work, someone with that old movie star quality. This can't be manufactured; either you have it or you don't. Jewison & Co. try to infuse Tomei with it but she just doesn't have that indefinable it. As a result, her spontaneity becomes forced, her freshness wilted. The performance is strained and it shows.

Downey, Jr., on the other hand, delivers a delightful, light-hearted performance. Unlike Tomei, he is able to overcome the script's many weaknesses. Coming off his triumphantly audacious turn in Oliver Stone's Natural Born Killers, he grows more and more appealing with each film. Although we are afforded glimpses of his rascally, ironic charm, he is given too little to do. Of the able supporting cast, Billy Zane (Dead Calm, Orlando) provides some welcome comic moments as a Jim Morrison wannabe who may or may not be the real Damon Bradley.

Although the film is barely two hours long, it could have been more tightly edited. Especially problematic are the scenes in which Faith and Kate search for Damon, which are too long and seem pointless. At one point, the two women travel by car and become lost. Kate muses sarcastically, "I wonder what time it is in Pittsburgh." Sitting there, I was wondering the same thing myself.

Only You

Directed by: Norman Jewison

Written by: Diane Drake

Starring: Marisa Tomei, Robert Downey Jr., Billy Zane, Bonnie Hunt, Fisher Stevens, Joaquim de Almeida, John Benjamin Hickey