Love only matters in the face of misery and death. Supposed romantic comedies starring Meg Ryan or Julia Roberts are fundamentally sickening because the entire universe they inhabit conspires to make us adore them. The notion that these divinely sanctioned creatures might not get what they want requires far more suspension of disbelief than do plot devices involving time travel or cheerful prostitution.

The characters of Italian for Beginners begin in a state of despair: a foul-tempered restaurant manager, a hairdresser whose mother is dying slowly and painfully, a clumsy bakery clerk wriggling under the thumb of her bitter father. This being a romantic comedy, their lives begin to intersect through a series of coincidences--coincidences that could feel contrived, but due to the rough integrity of the script, performances, and direction, they feel like the organic waywardness of life. Bit by bit, Italian for Beginners becomes both jarringly funny and sweetly affecting. Though some resolutions are a bit pat, the movie doesn't suggest that life has suddenly become easy for these people; all it does is offer them a shred of hope.