By Emma Pearse

Romantics will leave satisfied; cynics may well be converted - or not. It all depends on whether you have the courage to believe in something beyond your own, everyday existence.

Does fate exist? And if so, when there are so many people, so many places in this world, how do you know when life is dealing you your fate or when it is testing your ability to recognise what is real? The Very Thought of You, for romantics and fatalists alike, may answer some of these questions. It is the new movie written by Peter Morgan and directed by Nick Hamm that opens tonight.

"It all started with something as simple as a trolley ..." Martha (Monica Potter), decides to pack up and leave her dead-end life in Minneapolis, and buys a $99 ticket to London. She has three quirky meetings in 24 hours during her first trip outside America.

Daniel (Tom Hollander) is a lady's man, a successful music executive with money, youth and the looks to use in whichever way he pleases.

Frank (Rufus Sewell) is an out-of-work actor with stage fright, a cynical attitude and self esteem as capable as a fish's memory.

And Laurence (Joseph Fiennes) is a sweet guy who freezes when he's nervous, teaches bridge to old ladies and worries about his friends' happiness.

In this city of 10 million people, Martha finds these three men, unknowing they have been friends for life, and in spite of her plans for "a future of irresponsible liaisons and roads paved in gold", spends her time mourning the loss of just one of them.

Morgan approached producer Grainne Marmion with this romantic, real and quirky script based on a dinner party he attended and the love affair of three of his male pals: Male friendship is at the core of the story, as is the romantic love between a man and woman.

"Peter is a good observer of people" Marmion said when she heard the idea an story from Morgan.

"There was something incredibly refreshing and candid about this take on uptight English men who cannot express themselves emotionally. Men do talk the way women do amongst themselves. It's just that no one's written about it before."

In casting for the film, the process was slow and thorough. In this day and age of, at the same time, romantic cynicism and Hollywood idolatry, Hamm wanted beautiful, watchable but real characters. "You cast actors who a: you want to work with, and b: you think are incredibly watchable on screen," he says. "I enjoy the process of working with an actor before he becomes completely studied in his or her own performance.

"Martha had to be beautiful enough to make three men want to change their lives. But I wanted the women in the audience to identify with her. She [Potter] is a combination of Goldie Hawn and Julia Roberts. She lights up a room when she walks in.

"Rufus is a very, very funny man [he] is very good at being blokish, but he's also completely accessible. Daniel's a pompous arse but he's very witty and vulnerable in the hands of Tom Hollander. He [Hollander] is talented, attractive and he can play emotion truthfully, and yet he is hilariously funny."

Told through the confessions of lovely Laurence, the film, Hamm says,demanded an actor with openness and appeal for this part."Joe's [Fiennes'] part was quite difficult," Hamm says. "You have to believe he has a dilemma about holding the friendship together. Therefore Laurence has to be gentle, warm and open. Joseph seems to fulfil all of those characteristics.

Fiennes has recently become a big and, quite frankly, adored face with central roles in Shakespeare in Love, as the young bard himself, and in Elizabeth, as the real love interest of Queen Elizabeth I. The 29-year-old actor was raised in Ireland by a mother who was a writer and apainter, and a photographer father. He began his acting career in stage theatre, where he performed alongside Helen Mirren and worked with the Royal Shakespeare Company. His film debut was in Bernardo Bertolucci's Stealing Beauty. The Very Thought of You is his most recent film to be released in Australia.

Fiennes says of his character, "Laurence would never see himself as a romantic. He is quite withdrawn and shy. He is not ambitious or competitive enough to out-talk the other guys, who are dynamic, colourful creatures. I think there is a sardonic streak to him, but he is very caring and not self-obsessed."

Perhaps not the impression some would get from the actor himself, whose only film roles have been main parts, as the true love interest of beautiful women. But his self confessions hint that Fiennes may be somewhat at home in the role of sweet Laurence.

"My job is when I turn up and someone shouts 'Action!'," he says."But now everyone's brought up on the idea of celebrities, it's the 'Hello!' culture, and with all due respect to those who do that, I find it all really cheesy. We're so boring and our lives are no more interesting than anyone who reads about them."