I Love You Too

Director: Daina Reed
Cast: Brendan Cowell, Yvonne Strahovski, Peter Helliar, Megan Gale and Peter Dinklage
Releasing in cinemas: 6 May 2010
Rated: M

Here’s yet another romantic comedy which doesn’t quite hit the high notes - there’s a lot of them about. You might be forgiven for thinking the film has a 'made for TV' feel, perhaps to be expected since it’s written by Peter Helliar a popular comedian often seen on the small screen, and directed by Daina Reid, also from a TV background. The little guy Peter Dinklage is the one who lifts this show above being just a routine date movie.

Jim (Brendan Cowell) isn’t the world’s most ambitious man - at thirty-something he’s a miniature train driver and lives in a granny flat at the back of his sister’s house. He’s in a long relationship with British girlfriend Alice (Yvonne Strahovski), who’s finally looking for commitment that Jim seems unable to provide. So Alice breaks it off and wants to return to London. Drowning his sorrows on a boozy night with his loud-mouthed best mate Blake (Peter Helliar), Jim ends up stealing a car. Then he finds a well-scribed love letter in the car, which makes him think such a letter would win back Alice’s heart.

The next morning, the car’s owner Charlie (Peter Dinklage) surprises Jim sleeping in his near-wrecked vehicle. Charlie, a man of small stature, has his act together - successful wise and generous, he runs a photographic business and has a way with words. He takes an interest in Jim’s plight, while having his own heart set on a high flying Italian supermodel Francesca Moretti (Megan Gale) to whom he’s penned the love letter but never dared to send. In return for his help, Jim undertakes to deliver the letter to Charlie’s unobtainable object of desire.

The attractive leads Brendan Cowell and Yvonne Strahovski (Chuck TV series) both put in appealing performances, working comfortably together. Cowell reminds me for some reason of the amiable Colin Friels in Malcolm years ago. But this is a lightweight reading after Under Hill 60. However the best scenes are between Cowell and Peter Dinklage, who gives his on-screen character depth and dignity. It’s a compelling portrayal with a touch of pathos. Thank Heaven for Dinklage, who will be remembered for The Station Master and Death at a Funeral. The most endearing part of the story becomes Charlie’s obsession with Francesca, which is really the subplot.

Megan Gale pulls off the supermodel with elegance and an impressive Italian accent. Well, she is a supermodel so it’s no big ask, sadly her appearance is reduced to almost a cameo. Peter Helliar’s role as the rambunctious mate does rather get on your nerves. You have to seriously wonder why so many buddy flicks seem required to have one buddy behave like a reject from The Footy Show (such as the loud blabber mouth in Hot Tub Time Machine). Romantic romps bogged down with these annoying ratbag mates who offer limited comic value.

I Love You Too occasionally falters at script level with Peter Helliar again responsible for the screenplay. While I won’t deny there’s home-spun philosophy and some very funny lines including a droll reference to Twin Peaks, a few sequences have shallow unconvincing dialogue which stretches character credibility. As usual you see the best gags in the trailer. Direction by Daina Reid keeps the pacing tight, providing some well-managed scenes with just a hint of television production lurking in the background. Melbourne, especially the luminous Hyatt Hotel, comes up well in the lenses of cinematographer Ellery Ryan who gives a lustre to the visuals denying the film’s roots in television.

All in all, I Love You Too is an agreeable confection with inspired moments yet it remains one of the 'could have beens'.

John Bale