Mira isn’t sure she’ll ever be able to fall in love again. What she had with her last boyfriend, John, was pretty perfect. They were on the verge of that illusive happily ever after that people say never happens these days. But in their case, it didn’t. John was taken in an accident with a drunk driver.
How do you bounce back from that?
The fact is, you don’t. Or at least, Mira hasn’t. And everything in her life has suffered in the two years since John’s tragic death. She used to be a very successful children’s book author and artist. But now all her formerly happy, rainbow-colored caterpillars are sad, weeping and gray. That doesn’t sell kids’ books.
Mira’s sister and friends have tried to pull her out of her grief. But their well-meaning efforts haven’t helped. Then Mira decides to give one small bit of advice a try. A good friend dealing with his own tragic loss suggests that he makes it through by sitting down with a glass of wine and sharing his thoughts with an empty chair representing his deceased wife. It helps him talk things out. Even vent sometimes.
When Mira tries this wine-and-vent ritual, however, she feels silly. It’s not her. But then an idea hits her: She could also text her thoughts and feelings. She and John used to do that all the time when he was out of town.
But have you ever wondered what happens to a phone number once its former user passes away? That’s right: It’s eventually given to someone new. And in this case that new someone is a guy named Rob.
Rob has had a few love issues of his own. His fiancée walked out on him just a week before their wedding. And that’s left him a bit wrung out and romantically gun-shy, too. But then, out of the blue, his new work phone begins receiving texts from an unknown number. Beautiful texts. Texts filled with poetic thoughts about loss and grief and love. Texts that swirl before Rob’s eyes with the grace of a ballet dancer. They lift him. They heal him.
Is it possible, do you think, that you can fall in love with someone simply by reading their thoughts and feelings?
Rob’s coworkers assure him the words are likely a scam, or a ploy, or maybe the blatherings of a creepy old grandmother lurking out there in the digital ether somewhere. But Rob is certain that none of those theories are true. These have to be heartfelt missives from someone very, very special.
If he’s correct, though, what now? How do you track down someone and “accidentally” meet them without letting on that you’ve been peeking in on their most intimate thoughts?
Amid this film’s typical (and at times silly) rom-com conventions, it earnestly suggests that a tragic loss doesn’t have to derail someone’s life. Singer Céline Dion shows up as a character here to declare that truth to Rob (who’s a music critic). She uses her own story of love and loss as an illustration.
Rob and Mira also tend to be conservative about their approach to a relationship. Even though others around them advocate simply getting sex whenever and wherever its available, Rob and Mira focus on connecting with each other and slowly peeling back the layers of their thoughts and feelings about life and love.
