Peter Dinklage, Anne Hathaway, and Marisa Tomei get caught in a love triangle in ‘She Came to Me.’

By Dana Barbuto/Boston Movie News


“She Came to Me” is a quirky romantic romp that slowly creeps up on you before delivering a jolting blast of bittersweet emotion. Written and directed by Rebecca Miller, the movie follows the intertwined lives of a half-dozen Brooklynites: a lovelorn tugboat captain, a shrink with OCD, a composer with writer’s block, a Civil War re-enactor, an immigrant maid, and a pair of teenagers.

The plot unfolds around Steven (“Game of Thrones” star Peter Dinklage), a musician struggling to create a new opera.  Anxious and panicky, he’s married to Patricia (Anne Hathaway), a meticulous therapist who never met a black pencil skirt she didn’t like. Steven affectionately calls her “Doc.” She gives him daily fish oil pills and sex on Thursdays. “You need to get lost,” she commands, handing him the dog’s leash while pushing him out the door of the swank brownstone she OBSESSIVELY cleans. She’s never met a mess she couldn’t tidy.
 

Peter Dinklage and Marisa Tomei in “She Came to Me.” (Photo from Vertical)
Peter Dinklage and Marisa Tomei in “She Came to Me.” (Photo from Vertical)


While on his walkabout, Steven turns up in a dive bar at 11 a.m. and meets cute with Katrina (Marisa Tomei), a tugboat captain and self-proclaimed love addict. When she invites Steven back to her boat, he follows, sort of reluctantly but not really. Steven emerges, ready to compose his next hit opera. While the unexpected rendezvous renders him shipshape, Katrina deigns him her new (married) object of affection. Yup, the waters get choppy.
 
In a parallel subplot, Magdalena (Joanna Kulig, “Cold War”), an immigrant maid, and Trey (Brian d’Arcy James, “Spotlight”), a court reporter and serious Civil War re-enactor, are raising their daughter, Tereza (Harlow Jane), a teenager experiencing first love with Julian (Evan A. Ellison).


Miller’s (“Maggie’s Plan”) screenplay pulls all the adults into the same orbit to navigate the circumstances surrounding the teen romance. What unfolds is surprisingly romantic and comical, if farfetched. Sometimes, Miller is too on the nose. For example, Katrina, who’s originally from New Orleans, blows into Steven’s life just like the same-name hurricane that destroyed the Big Easy.  Miller gets a significant assist from her terrific ensemble, making the material better than it should be.
 
But it’s Dinklage, all shaggy and curmudgeonly, who steals the show with a performance that gets under the skin and into the heart. He’s terrific opposite a pair of Oscar-winners in Tomei (“My Cousin Vinny”) and Hathaway (“Les Misérables”), two movie stars who disappear into characters. Miller obliges by supplying the women with fully realized roles. Kulig, the great Polish actress who mesmerized as an ill-fated lover in “Cold War,” one of my favorite movies of 2018, is as soulful as ever.

The final shot provides one of the best payoffs I’ve seen in a while. And the new Bruce Springsteen song, “Addicted to Romance,” playing over the end credits, is the cherry on top.

Peter Dinklage and Anne Hathaway in “She Came to Me.” (Photo from Vertical)
Peter Dinklage and Anne Hathaway in “She Came to Me.” (Photo from Vertical)

‘She Came to Me’

Rating: R for some language

Cast: Peter Dinklage, Marisa Tomei, Anne Hathaway, Joanna Kulig, Brian d’Arcy James, Harlow Jane, Evan A. Ellison

Director/writer: Rebecca Miller

Running time: 102 minutes

Where to watch: In theaters

Grade: B