Committed

Heather Graham (Boogie Nights, Bowfinger) stars as Joline, a New York club owner who takes her word very, very seriously. When she marries photographer Carl (Luke Wilson of Bottle Rocket) for better or for worse, she means it. So when he leaves her and goes to Texas to find himself, she decides to follow him--after she puts the daisies he left for her in a blender and turns them into a puree. She tracks him down through a mixture of luck and magic, and starts to integrate herself into Carl's life without him knowing it. She encourages his editor to give Carl better assignments, she becomes friends with a woman he's dating, she protects him from that woman's jealous ex-lover. And all this while, as she sits in her parked car staring intently at Carl's trailer, one of his neighbors attempts to befriend and woo her. Committed is a mixture of quirky characters and off-kilter humor that didn't go over well in theaters, even though it was a hit at the Sundance Film Festival. But though its story meanders, it explores love relationships from many sides, with a gentle but clear-eyed freshness. Joline could be viewed as an obsessive stalker, but Graham invests her character with faith and charm that grows more and more engaging as the movie goes on--plus, she wears a number of tight-fitting hipster outfits and looks fabulous. The supporting cast--including Casey Affleck (Desert Blue) and Dylan Baker (Happiness)--is excellent. Committed may seem a little unfocused, but it's also genuinely unpredictable and comes together in surprising ways. A sweet, subtle movie. --Bret Fetzer