“Return to Me” is based on a pretty lame concept: wife dies, woman gets wife’s heart in a transplant, the widower falls in love with the woman not knowing that she’s the recipient of his dead wife’s heart. Pretty schmaltzy.

But on the strengths of the performances of the movie’s leads, David Duchovny and Minnie Driver, “Return to Me” is actually a movie that is charming rather then cheesy, sweet without being too saccharine.

In an era that doesn’t boast too many engaging romantic comedies that don’t star Meg Ryan, “Return to Me” has plenty of light laughs (and excuse the pun) heart.

The premise is simple. Bob (Duchovny, TV’s “X-Files”) is married to Elizabeth, (Joely Richardson, “The World is Not Enough”). Elizabeth is Chicago’s own Diane Fossey, working at a zoo and caring for a gorilla. Elizabeth’s dream is to raise enough money for a bigger confine for her favorite primate.

Bob and Elizabeth were high school sweethearts, and their marriage is idyllic. At least that’s what the audience is told, since Elizabeth barely makes it through 10 minutes of the film before she’s killed in a brutal car wreck. There isn’t much of a chance to see any sort of relationship between Elizabeth and Bob.

Elizabeth’s heart is given to Grace, (Driver, “Good Will Hunting”), who’s been suffering from heart problems since she was 14. The transplant is successful, and Grace is suddenly given a new lease on life, but she’s feeling guilty about the fact that she’s only alive because someone else died.

Driver’s a skilled actress, both at light fare and drama, and her subtly gives more weight to Grace’s character than should really be there.

Grace lives with her grandfather, played by Carroll O’Connor, and uncle, Robert Loggia. The family business is an Italian-Irish eatery where Grace waitresses, and the set-up allows us her extended family, including cousin Bonnie Hunt (who’s also the first-time director of “Return”) and James Belushi as her husband.

Although the family’s cast of characters is somewhat sitcom-like and pretty contrived, they grow on you after awhile. Even the constant bickering between the older men about who is the more consummate performer, Bobby Vinton or Frank Sinatra, doesn’t seem too grating.

Anyway, Grace and Bob eventually meet and are immediately attracted to one another. They start dating, with surprisingly few complications considering that Bob’s wife only died a year earlier, and everything’s finally going well for the hard-luck couple.

But Grace is reluctant to tell Bob about her surgery, wearing high-neck tops and avoiding too intimate of contact. She discovers the letter she’s sent to him unknowingly, through an anonymous organ donor program, thanking the family for her new heart, and she realizes she has to tell the man she’s fallen in love with, that she has his wife’s heart.

Like any throw-away romantic comedy, “Return to Me” pushes all the right emotional buttons without making the audience think too much. “The English Patient” it isn’t, but there’s still something to be said for a movie that’s not afraid to be anything more than it is — which is just a nice, simple story about two people who fall in love. No thought required, but no awful feelings about the $6 you spent.

Driver is excellent, as always. There isn’t much she can’t do — like any real movie star, as opposed to those Flavor of the Months who just know how to memorize their lines and strike a pose, she absolutely glows on screen, and can take thin material and make it seem like a meaningful performance.

Her comedic charm and near-perfect timing are in full force. Driver brings back memories of the late Carole Lombard, who could effectively make audiences laugh while appearing absolutely luminous.

Duchovny also does a very competent job in his first romantic comedy, which is surprising given his attraction to darker or off-beat material. His wit is appropriately dry, and he makes a very charming leading man.

There’s plenty of holes in the plot, of course. Bob doesn’t seem to struggle much psychologically when the decision comes for him to date again (none at all, really).

And for all the time Bob and Grace spend together, she really puts off telling him about her surgery.

But these are all incidentals. The real point of a romantic comedy is just to have fun, and “Return” delivers on that premise.

3 Stars

Rating based on a 5 Star scale.