By CATHERINE LANGFORD
Paramount Picture's new romantic comedy ''Til There Was You' uses more threads than you can count to throw two people together over a 20-year time period.
The well-known phrase 'What a tangled web we weave, when first we practice to deceive!' came to mind as I watched the plot unfold -- not that the characters practiced deception so much as they seemed to be connected from the very beginning. Even Sir Walter Scott might have been surprised by the intricacy of the web making up the lives of Gwendolyn Moss (Jeanne Tripplehorn) and Nick Dawkan (Dylan McDermott).
They first met in elementary school, and the focus the movie put on both their lives plainly indicated a reunion sometime during the film. In a frustratingly complex series of hits and misses, they missed more than hit until conditions were ideal for a relationship.
The cast, well-chosen for the film's blend of drama and comedy, made a convincing argument for the realistic situation of two people who have to be made for each other by events rather than destiny.
Tripplehorn created Gwen as an especially convincing character, a ghost writer whose personality was influenced a little too much by syrupy romantic poets to be able to cope with the harsh realities of life. Her separation from the 'real world' was best portrayed by her comedic and painful mishaps in the restaurant, The Absolute Truth, with its sharp edges and the stark coldness of the inconvenient decor.
Despite Gwen's distaste for the restaurant's atmosphere, designed by Nick, she was constantly brought back to it, foreshadowing her encounters with Nick and the consequences of his actions that influenced her life.
McDermott was a protagonist whose lies and emotional distance make him disagreeable until almost the end of the movie. At that point the events in his life, touched more often by Gwen's anonymous actions as the plot progressed, forced him to look at a softer side of life. The softness he encountered was best illustrated by the falling rose petals that caressed each person who stepped into the courtyard of La Fortuna, an apartment complex that figures prominently in the film.
Sarah Jessica Parker was the manipulative Francesca Lanfield, the remnants of a child-actress who starred in a 1970's sitcom remarkably similar to 'The Brady Bunch.' Despite the happiness projected by the sitcom 'One Big Happy Family' Francesca grew up to be a woman embittered by drug re-hab centers, surrounded by people who liked her for her money but always deserted her, and a family who was never there for her.
Although Parker's role was more for distraction, she helped start the chain of events that eventually took Nick further from the cold winter of The Absolute Truth and closer to the springtime warmth of La Fortuna.
The details involved in bringing the two together admittedly became a bit frustrating as I kept on waiting for them to see each other, or to turn a corner and run into each other, or for Gwen to be at her apartment when Nick sits on her doorstep -- something to finally bring the two together.
Almost-but-not-quite seemed to be a dominant theme, since Gwen and Nick were almost-but-not-quite meant for each other until the very end of the movie. The last threads of the web were tied together as the cobwebs from the two's nicotine-clouded minds were brushed aside (all the main characters seemed to be hopelessly addicted to cigarettes).
There was a lot of detail put into the script, and I appreciated the attention. Although it had depth, ''Til There Was You' was light-hearted enough to take the edge off the extremities in each of the characters' personalities. Over all, it was a fun movie and the realities helped bring it closer to home than many movies with similar plots.