Plot: Harvey Shine's (Dustin Hoffman's) life is in a shambles, but he doesn't realize exactly how bad it is until the weekend of his daughter Susan's (Liane Balaban's) wedding. His dream job would have been to be a jazz pianist, but realizing he was not talented enough, settled into working as a New York City-based commercial jingle writer. As Harvey is about to head off to London for the wedding, Marvin (Richard Schiff), his boss, roundaboutly implies that he has one last chance to modernize his work for the digital age or else be out of a job. And once in London, Harvey, although long ago feeling like his ex-wife Jean (Kathy Baker) and her second husband Brian (James Brolin) took over the parenting of Susan, understands that he truly is an inconsequential part of Susan's life now, in large part, his own fault. Similarly, single Kate Walker (Dame Emma Thompson) leads an unhappy life. She works as a survey interviewer for the British Airport Authority at Heathrow Airport. She is unable to transfer her professional Public Relations skills to her social life, where she only knows how to push men away rather than engage them. Kate's mother, Maggie (Dame Eileen Atkins), has far too much time on her hands, telephoning Kate several times a day, in her concern both in believing her new Polish neighbor is some crazed criminal, and in Kate's single status, not understanding, in the words of Kate's colleague and friend, Oonagh (Bronagh Gallagher), that the telephone calls are more effective as a contraceptive for Kate. As Harvey reaches what is probably the lowest point in his time in London, he encounters Kate for the second time. On his initiative, they both decide to take a chance on the other in making a connection. They will have a lot of emotional baggage to get through in the other to make that connection truly meaningful beyond Harvey's short scheduled stay in London.
Alternative Plot: In London for his daughter's wedding, a struggling jingle-writer, Harvey Shine (Dustin Hoffman), misses his plane to New York, and thus loses his job. While drowning his sorrows in the airport pub, Harvey meets Kate (Emma Thompson), a British government worker stuck in an endless cycle of work, phone calls from her mother, and blind dates. A connection forms between the unhappy pair, who soon find themselves falling in love.
Rate this movie!