Excruciatingly unfunny, FOLLOW YOUR HEART is a bargain-basement Cinderella tale in which the characters look for love while under the spell of old movies (parodied in B&W snippets). Trying to turn the clock back to the 1930s, writer-director-producer Lorenzo Doumani hasn't a clue about
how to recapture the elegance of that era.
Disappointed with their romantic lives, Manhattan career gals Taylor Monahan (Brenda Doumani) and Angie LaRocca (Leah Remini) decide to head to Los Angeles. When their second-hand car breaks down, they load their possessions onto a Bailey transport bus. In Arizona, their new driver Jimmy (Ted
McGinley), who claims to be a working stiff. Jimmy, who is really the scion of the Bailey empire, likes to palm himself off as an average Joe. He senses that Taylor likes him for himself, not his fortune.
In LA, Taylor soon lands a plum job as party planner for polo-playing, confirmed bachelor Scott Thompson (Jack Scalia). Railing against the dictates of his grandfather's will (that stipulates that Scott must wed by age 45 or lose his millions), Scott so admires Taylor's work in coordinating his
charity ball that he begins to consider marriage.
At Scott's gala, Jimmy fills in as a bartender to be close to Taylor, while Angie makes a play for an inebriated Scott. At a bachelorette auction, Jimmy outbids Scott for a date with Taylor and reveals his millionaire status to a hurt, puzzled Taylor. Although Taylor was smitten with Jimmy, she
doesn't appreciate his dishonesty. After snagging Scott on the rebound, Angie convinces Jimmy to plead his case with Taylor. When Jimmy pops the question, a forgiving Taylor finally accepts.
Recycled situations borrowed from more stylish films draw out this well- photographed but under-written, clumsily scored, and indifferently acted affront to the classics of Hollywood's heyday. High in sap content but low in wit, this romantic comedy piffle would have been a programmer in the days
it evokes, when it might have been redeemed by second-string stars with enough charisma to carry this dog of a script. Scene-stealers Bernie Koppel and Leah Remini drill into the bedrock of the screenplay and come up empty. Even less palatable than other contemporary attempts to resuscitate
romantic comedy (e.g., 1993's SLEEPLESS IN SEATTLE), FOLLOW YOUR HEART merely proves that the past is gone for good. (Profanity, substance abuse) leave a comment