For some reason, my DH and I have have been landing on some quirky love movies lately. A few weeks ago we watched Before We Go, and last night we watched The Face of Love.

Nicki Lostrom’s (Annette Benning) husband has drowned, and, five years later, she’s still not having an easy time moving on. Roger Stillman (the late Robin Williams), the guy across the street who has lost his wife, is interested, but they never really make a connection. As he says at the end of the movie, he’s better friend material than anything else.

The movie takes a Hitchcockian twist when Benning sees a man who is a perfect doppelganger for her husband (Ed Harris). She finds excuses to be with him, all the while keeping him from her daughter and neighbor, who will certainly recognize the resemblance. To tell you any more would spoil the story.

It’s not a love movie as we traditionally think of them–like Julia Roberts and Hugh Grant finally committing to each other in Notting Hill. While there’s a happy ending of sorts, it doesn’t involve two people living happily ever after, or even happily ever now. So why is it a love story?

To me, love comes in many forms. Love between two people may not exist within any recognizable form, such as marriage or other living together arrangements. It may be a snippet of romance for a special period in time that leaves both people changed and better human beings than they used to be. The romance wasn’t forever, but it was for good.

So much of our world is looking for the bad things people do, the potential disaster coming, the latest shooting or idiocy that someone has dreamt up. I don’t know about you, but sometimes I need to look for the light in our world–good people making positive changes for themselves, each other, and our world.

A small movie–not the best I’ve ever seen–but worthwhile in terms of the time we spent watching it.

What would you do if you met the perfect image of the man you used to love?

It’s an interesting thought…