An American in Paris (1951)

As a child, I was always enthralled by toy commercials, especially, those for action figures. They all had a similar format of children manipulating dolls within little plastic sets (usually replicas of castles, caves, and dungeons that may or may not be sold separately).There was always a cutaway of a slack-jawed kid in disbelief at how awesome the figures were.As a child, these carefully constructed scenes felt immersive and fun and made me want the toy of course! That was the point after all.

I think a lot of us have special relationships with toys.Boomers were the first generation of children from the burgeoning (and since obsolete) middle class to benefit from their parents' disposable income.This combined with the development of cheap production methods and the advent of plastic and rubber, saw an entire industry born specifically targeted to youths.It started with magazine ads and quickly moved over to the TV screen where Saturday morning cartoons became launching off points for products marketed directly to kids.More often than not those products were toys.

I believe Boomers wanted for their children what they pined for as youths themselves.Toys, toys, and more toys.As a child, I spent countless hours after school and on the weekends playing with my X-Men and Power Rangers figurines. There’s a familiar, sentimental feeling even now as I recall those early formative years with my collection of play items.A feeling successfully captured in Toy Story.

Imagine Me & You tells the story of Rachel, a newlywed bride who begins to question her sexuality after meeting Luce, an out lesbian who does the floral arrangements for her wedding. As the two begin to develop a closer bond, Rachel finds herself falling for Luce while trying to figure out what this means for her as a woman. Though slightly dated, Imagine Me & You still holds up as a fun, comedic, and romantic rom-com that gives a voice to a community that is too often ignored.

Imagine Me & You is, overall, a pretty average movie. It holds a special place in my heart as it was the first lesbian flick I ever watched as a young girl questioning my sexual orientation, and I’ll always think highly of it for that. But really, everything about the movie is just okay—yet it still works. It’s a cheesy 2005 film that is entirely of its time, but that did something that few films before it had done. Though the plot isn’t a unique one—woman falls for someone else while promised to another—the movie is unique in the sense that it takes a classic rom-com story and makes it about two women.

The romance in Imagine Me & You still holds up—Rachel and Luce are gentle, and watching them fall in love feels genuine, with all the first touches and glances and moments of Rachel questioning what it all means. They stand out as the most intriguing aspect of the story, which bodes well for the film as everything is based on the connection between them. Actresses Piper Perabo and Lena Headey do a wonderful job at bringing life to these women and their romance, and everything about their story feels genuine. It is never tiring to watch, and every scene between them is viewed with baited breath, wondering if something will finally happen that will cause them to admit their feelings for one another.

The most disappointing characters in Imagine Me & You are the leading men. Heck, Rachel’s husband, isn’t necessarily a bad guy—the film never makes him out to be the villain, and he never spews any vitriolic hate towards Rachel and Luce that would make the audience hate him. But overall, he’s too average to even be likable. The film tries too hard to make him the nice, understanding guy, so hard that it erases any personality he might have entirely. He’s not hate-worthy, but he’s not lovable, either. The film would be stronger if it gave his character more life, even if that meant making him more detestable. As is, he feels like a wasted aspect of the film, and scenes with him in it drag the story down.