HOW do you let go of the past when it means cutting yourself off from everyone and everything you hold dear and starting anew?

That's the dilemma facing British portrait artist Colin Ware (Colin Firth), an affable chap who is unable to contain his shock when he receives an invitation from his fiance Vera (Mini Driver) to celebrate her marriage to another man.

Plunged to the absolute depths of misery, Colin boards a plane bound for America and heads for the small Vermont town of Hope, silently praying he might find a sense of hope among the close-knit community.

Colin takes up lodgings at the Battlefield Inn, run by Joanie (Mary Steenburgen) and her husband Fisher (Frank Collison).

Ever the match-maker, Joanie attempts to lift Colin from his gloom by setting him up with eccentric local nurse Mandy (Heather Graham). The plan works and Colin gradually falls under the spell of eccentric care giver.

However, the peace is shattered when Vera breezes into town to tell Colin that the wedding invite was a joke, meant to spur him into popping the question, and she wants him back.

Hope Springs has all the ingredients of a sparky and energetic romantic comedy. Firth is dashing and quintessentially English, Graham is ditzy and vivacious and Driver exudes a cool sexiness. Supporting characters are sweetly demented and the locations glow with autumnal oranges and browns.

Yet there's no dramatic tension and the characters all feel rather two-dimensional. Driver's urbane, sexy socialite is a weak third point of the central triangle: spiteful, snide and aloof. She is so weak in fact, the entire structure collapses, leaving a linear journey from A to B via the familiar haunts of Comic Misunderstanding, Tearful Separation and Sugary Reconciliation.

Surely we should feel some sympathy for the breakdown in Colin and Vera's relationship, and understand why they have been together for so long? There is never any doubt who will emerge victorious from Vera and Mandy's tug-of-war - the only surprise is how long it takes Hope Springs to get there.

Rating: 4/10