I Think I Do

According to the late Southern writer Carson McCullers, the world is essentially divided into two types of people: the lover and the beloved. The tragic irony of this polar situation is that, quite often, never the twain shall meet. In the good-natured romantic comedy I Think I Do, the course of true love is a bit rocky as Bob -- genially played by a bemused Arquette -- finds himself pursued by Brendan (Maelen), his old college roommate who spurned his advances years ago and… well, let's just say, things got ugly. The problem is that Bob is now in a relationship with Sterling (Watkins), who's pushing for a commitment because his figurative biological clock is ticking. (In the twentysomething perspective of the characters in I Think I Do, any age above 30 is considered no man's land.) The Big Chill weekend in which these and other school-days characters converge for a wedding provides a setting full of screwball possibilities as couples, both gay and straight, couple and uncouple, no one really knowing exactly what or who they want in the way of a romantic partnership. As its title indicates, there's no real certainty in the affairs of the heart depicted here. I Think I Do starts off slowly in establishing the confused relationship between Bob and Brendan, but once the film flashes forward to the nuptial events, the movie percolates nicely. It's farcical, but not broadly so, thought-provoking without being serious. If the narrative structure isn't as seamless as it should be, the movie is nevertheless a pleasant experience, particularly in the deft use of the clichéd tricks of the genre: keys are misplaced; conversations are misinterpreted; and, of course, there's only one bed. (The most inspired gag in the movie involves, of all things, a neck brace.) As the relationships in I Think I Do knot or unravel, a Partridge Family-inspired score gives the movie a fitting retro feel that underscores the uncertainty of romantic inclinations. It's a world in which people preface, “I love you” with the qualification, “I think.”