BEAR WITH ME

It's a complete fantasy. It has almost no relationship with real life. As much as we'd like to believe that the entire universe will go to such extreme measures to get two people together, it just does not happen that way. This isn't a movie about being in love, it's a movie about being in love in the movies.

John Cusack and Kate Beckinsale are adorable as a couple deigned by destiny. They meet cute at Bloomingdales one night before Christmas and spend a magical night together. But because of Beckinsale's flaky views on fate, the two leave it up to destiny to determine if they belong together. He writes his name and number on a five dollar bill, she puts hers in a book and sells it to a used book store.

Flash forward a decade, both of them are getting married, he lives in New York, she lives in San Francisco, but they can't help wondering what might have been. Cusack is terrifically funny as an ESPN producer who is in love with another woman but can't forget Beckinsale. Beckinsale is also charming as a psychiatrist having second thoughts about her New Age musician fiancé. Jeremy Piven and Molly Shannon are also hilarious as Cusack's best friend and Beckinsale's girlfriend respectively.

You can quibble about the film, like pointing out that this couple are both engaged to marry other good people who obviously love them (John Corbett and Bridget Moynahan) who they drop flat for just the possibility of someone they met once, almost a decade earlier.

But what's the point?

Serendipity is the type of old-fashioned love conquers all story that have just about dried up in Hollywood.

STARRING John Cusack, Kate Beckinsale, Molly Shannon, Jeremy Piven, John Corbett, Bridget Moynahan, Eugene Levy, Jessica Kelly, Kate Blumberg, Ann Talman, Stephen Bruce, David Sparrow, Ron Payne, Marcia Bennett and Buck Henry.

SCREENPLAY BY Marc Klein.

DIRECTED BY Peter Chelsom.

In the frankly touristy "Only You," a Pittsburgh schoolteacher named Faith flees her dull fiance and races off to Italy, traveling cute in a black raincoat over a bouffant wedding dress.

Supposedly the purpose of this trip is Faith's finding her true soul mate, a man whose name -- Damon Bradley -- she has been given by a Ouija board. Actually it's all about scenery, as the story moves from Venice to Rome to Positano, stopping for suitably fabulous vistas and fountains and flowers.

Ms. Tomei does have the advantage of statuesque good looks, which are greatly enhanced by Milena Canonero's slinky, glamorous costumes and do something to compensate for her brittle, bright-eyed delivery. "Only You" is about appearances. It's the kind of film in which strangers applaud when young lovers kiss and tourists say things like "He promised to take me on a tour of the fountains."

And the story itself, by Diane Drake, is actually rather sweet. In search of her phantom lover, Faith ignores the fact that she has met Mr. Right. He is Mr. Peter Wright (Robert Downey Jr.), to be precise. But when he figures out that only Damon Bradley can make Faith happy, he calls himself Damon Bradley instead.

Meanwhile, Faith's sister-in-law, Kate (Bonnie Hunt), decides to make a much-needed getaway from Faith's brother, Larry (Fisher Stevens), a Pittsburgh roofer. Once in Rome, she is courted by Giovanni (Joaquim de Almeida), a skilled hand-kisser who knows what unhappily married American tourists like. (They like rooftop restaurants with nice views of Rome and exclamations like: "La bella Italia! She's waiting!")

Meanwhile, mistaken identity and the Damon Bradley question keep Faith in a series of swoons and snits, while love-struck Peter Wright waits for her to come to her senses. A yacht figures prominently in these developments. So does Billy Zane, who has some funny moments as a handsome Mr. Wrong.

ONLY YOU

DIRECTED BY Norman Jewison; WRITTEN BY Diane Drake;

RELEASE BY Tri-Star Pictures. Running time: 108 minutes.

STARRING: Marisa Tomei (Faith), Robert Downey Jr. (Peter), Bonnie Hunt (Kate), Joaquim de Almeida (Giovanni), Fisher Stevens (Larry) and Billy Zane (the False Damon Bradley).