Rarely has a film's title been more appropriate than that of the new science-fiction romance Happy Accidents, a wonderfully daring and original film that magically manages to avoid the dreadful fate of most of this genre.
Written and directed by Brad Anderson, who saw critical acclaim for his Next Stop, Wonderland and last month's Session 9, Happy Accidents shoots out of left field to take its place alongside last spring's Memento as a persuasive reminder of the creative advantages of independent film.
Although veering a little long at nearly two hours, the film doesn't wait long to introduce Ruby Weaver, an idealistic yet increasingly cautious single woman in Manhattan, played winningly by Marisa Tomei in a performance that signals her return to glory after a lengthy post-Oscar drought. Frustrated with a depressing dating life that features a shoebox of photos of former boyfriends termed the "ex-files," Weaver is genuinely caught off-guard when she is charmed by an endearing oddball named Sam Deed, who wastes little time to romance her, despite such bizarre traits as an arresting fear of tiny dogs, a tendency to zone out in peculiar spells and sleep-talking of "breaking the causal chain." However, it's only a matter of time before Sam shares his background with Ruby--he has escaped from the year 2470, a grim future for the human race that includes time travel and a remarkably different Atlantic coast.
This is quite a risky moment for the film, as a great number of films have drowned in a far less absurd story; however, this is where Happy Accidents truly takes off, spiraling forward with bravado, ingenuity and an intelligence rarely seen in modern cinema. Vincent D'Onofrio finds his calling as Deed, putting his schlock days behind him and lending a humility and charm to a role that would commonly be played solely for laughs. Also fine are The Practice's Holland Taylor as Ruby's therapist and Nadia Dajani as Ruby's best friend.
Anderson's script is smart and edgy, walking a fine line between breezy comedy and a deep meditation on time and love, resulting in a final product that works on several levels. He also deserves kudos for creating a "single woman in New York" storyline that doesn't blandly copy Sex and the City's winning formula, substituting that show's cynicism for idealistic romance. In a year where such dreck as The Wedding Planner is all too frequent, Happy Accidents manages to accomplish a rare feat--it gives the audience exactly what it never knew it wanted but always secretly craved.
