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Every now and then we hear about a movie that's "off the radar screen" but turns out to be a gem. Such is the case with A Foreign Affair, a quirky but fun independent film that opened last week in just three cities: Los Angeles, Phoenix, and—get this—Grand Rapids, Michigan. All three make perfect sense.

Geert Heetebrij

L.A. makes sense, as the movie capital of the world.

Phoenix makes sense, as the home of A Foreign Affair, a company that takes American men on "romance tours" of Russia in search of potential brides. Apparently works; the website boasts: "We average more than seven engagements a day."

And Grand Rapids makes sense, because the film's scriptwriter, Geert Heetebrij, is a 1993 graduate of that town's Calvin College.

A Foreign Affair, Heetebrij's first full-length feature, is a romantic comedy about two 30-something brothers—Jake (Tim Blake Nelson of O Brother Where Art Thou) and Josh (David Arquette of Scream) live with their mom on the family farm. When Mom dies, the sons realize they're clueless when it comes to cooking, cleaning, and keeping house. So they decide they need a wife—yes, a wife, singular, not plural. And they end up on this romance tour to Russia in search of the perfect woman—Jake, the logical, measured (and anal retentive) big brother with his list of criteria for interviewing prospects, and Josh, the sweet, shy, little brother who suddenly transforms from a homebody into an outgoing playboy while on the tour.

Hilarity ensues, but this film is much more than just a comedy. It's a poignant look at sibling relationships and the mysteries of romantic love. Ebert & Roeper both gave it thumbs-up, and it was well-received at the Sundance Film Festival last year, where one critic called it "partly comic in an absurdist way and partly very human" and "a wry comment on the whole notion of romance tours. … A Foreign Affair is one of the sleeper hits at Sundance."

It's also one of the best movies I've seen this year, so here's hoping it comes to a theater near you. If not, look for it on video some day. In the meantime, Heetebrij, a Christian who now lives in an LA suburb, talked with us about the movie.

How did you come up with the idea for A Foreign Affair?

Geert Heetebrij: I came across the website for A Foreign Affair years ago and thought it was a really bizarre concept, shopping for a spouse that way. I remember thinking immediately that it would be a great arena for a story, but I didn't know what that story might be. Much later, I connected the arena with the characters of the two brothers, and then I suddenly had a story.

Is any of this story based on real characters?

David Arquette and Tim Blake Nelson

Heetebrij: Jake and Josh are inspired by two actual brothers living with their mom, although the film brothers end up being quite unlike the actual people who inspired it. And, to my knowledge, they've also never taken a romance tour. But maybe the movie will change that.

Are you reflected in either of the characters?

Heetebrij: I think I have a lot of the rigidness and stubborness of Jake in me. A shorthand way to describe both brothers would be Id and Superego.

I understand your research actually included taking one of A Foreign Affair's romance tours!

Heetebrij: Yes, but that didn't come up until after I started writing the story. Helmut Schleppi (director) and I began to realize that in order to come up with something good here, we needed to see what these tours were really like. Anything else would have felt "made up." We decided on approaching A Foreign Affair because they were one of the biggest agencies in this field. And they were very cooperative, welcoming the media attention.

Good enough, but you and Helmut are married! When you proposed this idea to your wife, did she throw anything at you—or throw you out of the house?

Heetebrij: Her first reaction was a laughing, "Yeah, right." When she saw I was serious, she got serious: "There's no way you're going on that tour." I responded with a lengthy pitch that I wouldn't be able to write the script right if I had no idea what I was talking about, that I would be going for only a few days, that I wouldn't be going alone, but together with Helmut, who's also happily married. Our wives let us go.

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