THE MIGHTY BEAN

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"I think you're probably wondering why a strange man paid your restaurant bill and what he's going to do next." Gabriel Lewis

Storyline:  Laura Simms is a successful, professional woman who has a fulfilling career.  Unfortunately, the same can't be said for her love life.  Her ex-boyfriend Michael's eyes aren't the only part of him that wander, though they still remain friends.  During the course of their meal at a restaurant, Michael announces he's getting married.  A shocked Laura becomes even more so when the bill arrives with the waitress' phone number on it.  She rushes out of the restaurant only to be tracked down by a handsome stranger who has paid her bill.  The "stranger," Gabriel Lewis seems to be everything Laura has ever dreamt of as he begins to court her. As their relationship progress Laura begins to see a darker nightmarish side of her "perfect" love.

Acting/dialogue:  Obsessive love has never looked so devastatingly handsome or frightening as portrayed by Sean Bean.  Bean's Gabriel, on the surface, is the perfect romantic suave prince.  His switch between this princely romantic and the obsessive and possessive lover is captivating.  Wilby is convincing as the promiscuous Michael.  Scott's performance as Laura lacks in convincing the viewer she has completely fallen under Gabriel's spell.  The film's dialogue is rich with romance and whisperings of sweet somethings. Some of the best lines belong to the courting Gabriel, "We're all half of somebody else." 

 Believability of Bean is the pinnacle of love plunging into psychotic obsession.  He's sweeping the viewer off her feet one second and sending chills down one's spine the next.  Wilby does a fine job as the cad Michael.  Tell Me That You Love Me is a story that is all to common and could have been taken for any number of headlines from nearly anywhere in the modern world.  However, as extremist as Bean's Gabriel seems to be, I wasn't fully convinced his obsession over Laura would drive him to commit suicide.

The beginning of the film starts out like a modern fairy tale.  The romance and the sexual tension are enough to make many a female viewer melt into a puddle.  Bean's completely desirable Gabriel is liable to short circuit many a VCR.

Source: Many-Paths.Net