Truly, Madly, Deeply

Directed by: Anthony Minghella

RS: Not Rated

1991 Romance

Think of this persuasively acted British romance as the thinking man's Ghost. Juliet Stevenson stars as Nina, a woman who cannot accept the accidental death of her musician lover Jamie, played by Alan Rickman (Die Hard). Her grief so disrupts her life, her friendships and her work that she seeks out a therapist.

Isolated in her flat, she is visited by her lover's spirit. She's delighted at first, but then he starts complaining about the cold and the food. He even invites in other ghosts, who demand that she rent them videos. Writer and first-time director Anthony Minghella lays on the whimsy a bit thick at times, but his wryly funny and heartfelt observations on sorrow go down much easier than the Hollywood brand of lump-in-the-throat histrionics.

PETER TRAVERS
RS 605