United Kingdom
Romance
Feature Film
1991

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Ken and I had the opportunity to see Anthony Minghella (director/writer) speak at a screening of Cold Mountain. He told the story behind Truly, Madly, Deeply, so I decided to throw it on the Netflix queue. Basically, Mr. Minghella was hoping to hide his first directorial debut in this small film that no one would see, and it turned out to be a great hit.

Truly, Madly, Deeply tells the story of Nina, who lost her husband unexpectedly, and has not been able to truly cope with his death. She's barely holding on to the day-to-day things in life, her flat's a mess, she's seeing a therapist but it's not helping, and she can't seem to get back out into the world again.

Her longing for her husband, Jamie (Alan Rickman), is so great that Jamie returns from the dead to be with her again. At first everything is spectacular -- Nina has her man back, he starts putting her flat in order, and she's happy.

As time goes on, however, Jamie starts bringing some friends home (all ghosts as well). As more and more of them crowd into Nina's life, and as Jamie starts reordering things to his own liking, the tension builds between them. When Nina finally meets another man to whom she finds a connection, she comes to realize that she needs to move forward, not dwell in the past. She must let Jamie go and live.

This realization is met with Jamie's blessing, and it appears his invasion of her life was not to return to her, but spur her to move on with her own life.

Truly, Madly, Deeply had a happy ending all around, many tear-filled moments, and was overall a delightful film. I enjoyed the acting and I enjoyed the story. Alan Rickman made a very nice romantic lead, and Juliet Stevenson (Nina) was just adorable.

I suppose it's as chick of a chick-flick as you can get, but not in a cloying, sugary-sweet sort of way.