‘Mrs. Winterbourne’
Is Mrs. Winterbourne the most underrated rom com of the last 25 years? I’d argue yes. Starring a dream cast of Ricki Lake (a formidable leading lady!), Brendan Fraser and Shirley freaking MacLaine, the film follows the loveable, low-class and totally screwed (and pregnant!) Connie who is mistaken for a rich man’s widow after a train crash. Stuck with a newborn and few options, Connie accepts the Patricia Winterbourne identity when the family of her dead “husband” takes her in. Admittedly, this may be the stuff of pure melodrama, but the cast more than rises above the improbable plot. Fraser is never better as the snobbish Bill who struggles with guilt and regret as he falls in love with the vivacious Connie/Patricia. The movie’s standout sequence? Fraser and Lake’s delicious and hilarious kitchen tango when they have finally given up on resisting each other.