Anderson's heroine is sweet overly-caring Ruby (Marisa Tomei), a young woman so stuck in a series of bad relationships that she and her friends have a box marked "Ex-Files" for photos of the losers. So stuck in a cycle of co-dependency that she has sought help from a psychiatrist (Holland Taylor). Ruby simply has the world's worst track record with men, but that all changes when she meets Sam (Vincent D'Onofrio) in Central Park. He's funny, kind and decent in a way Ruby hasn't seen in a long while. On their first date, they dance in her apartment and end up in bed together. A week later, Sam moves in. So much for breaking the co-dependent cycle, Ruby.

Sure enough, Ruby starts to notice some weird little things about her one and only Sam. Like the fact that he is terrified of little dogs and that he doesn't seem to know what wine is. How about that he can speak five languages, even though he claims he's never left Iowa until now. Or the kicker - he has a bar code tattooed under his arm. Suspicious? Darn tootin'. Any sensible girl would run fast in the opposite direction, especially after Sam reluctantly admits he's from 400 years in the future. (Relax, that won't ruin the film.)

Sam came back in time because he claims he found a photo of her in his time and simply fell in love. Well, that's just great, as far as Ruby is concerned. How does she always end up with the freaks? One of Ruby's friends tells her that it must just be some "kinky, role-playing game" and suggests that Ruby have fun with it, as long as the sex is good. So, she does, at first.

The question that, of course, emerges as the story evolves is whether Sam is telling the truth or is simply a brilliantly inventive lunatic. What Anderson is asking us is this: How much would you -- and should you - believe for true love? In a less competent director's hands, this question could seem simplistic and Ruby's ambivalence about leaving Sam might get frustrating. But Anderson has managed to capture the often-ambiguous nature of true love. It ain't easy to love or to close the door on it, especially when closing the door might be the worst thing you could do.

Adding the time travel element to a seemingly standard love story is what makes this film shine and what heightens the intensity of the relationship so beautifully captured by Tomei and D'Onofrio. The two actors, whose on-screen chemistry is already superb, are further blessed to work with someone like Anderson, whose dialogue is both incisively clever and immensely honest.

The bottom line is that Happy Accidents is never boring and often exquisitely moving. It is filled with raw energy and an almost mystical view of life that is utterly enchanting. All love should be so magical and filled with wonder.