Natalie Russo (Katharine McPhee) and Nick Smith (Mike Vogel) are two singles who are both unlucky in love.  Natalie manages her family’s Italian restaurant, where opera is constantly playing.  Nick is an architecht whose mother (JoBeth Williams) keeps setting him up on dates.  They both toss a penny in the magical Hayward Fountain and wish for a chance to find their one true love.  Despite having never met, they start dreaming about each other.  Even though Natalie is being pursued by a volatile chef (Antonio Cupo) and Nick’s mom has set him up with another woman (Chiara Zanni), Natalie and Nick fall for each other.

That’s romantic, right?  The problem is that the fountain has some dumb rules. Once you toss your penny and start dreaming, you only have seven days to find your perfect mate or you’ll lose them.  That seems pretty mean-spirited to me.  To quote Sigourney Weaver:

This is a Hallmark film so you never doubt that Nick and Natalie will find each other.   I did get frustrated because it seemed like they should have spent more time in their dreams disccussing where to meet up and maybe exchanging numbers,  But I guess that’s not the way the magic works.  Still, it’s a sweet movie.  Katharine McPhee is really pretty and Mike Vogel is really handsome.  They probably would have fallen in love eventually even without the fountain.

I enjoyed In My Dreams.  After watching that Steve Guttenberg soccer movie, this daffy but nice romantic comedy was just what I needed.