Mate Matcher's Match

When BIX (30) and his buddy JONAH set out to "conquer” virgins (Bix has a penchant for medieval metaphors), they meet ANGIE (25), a devout Christian and real virgin, and MAGGIE, her black, almost-virgin roomie. (Angie hosts a matchmaker call-in radio show run by FATHER JOHN.) The first meet is a chilly mind-joust, but Bix is intrigued. Icy and aloof "Snow White" will be his "Spring Crusade."

The second meet is chillier. Insults and innuendo fly. Angie swats the annoying gadfly and drags away Maggie, who has taken a shine to Jonah. But stalwart Bix persists. However, the third meet goes oddly awry when Angie's verbal swordplay touches on his mother. Bix walks out, evidently troubled. Angie regrets her words.

Father John, concerned about Angie, the orphaned daughter of a lifelong friend, suggests she meet his brother. Angie eagerly agrees, but the thrill of a blind date is not to be. The brother is Bix! This fourth meet adds nuance to the word "catastrophe."

Worried about Bix's state of mind, Jonah visits Father John. Waiting alone in the church office, Jonah can't resist trying on vestments. Alas, a penitent drops in, and Jonah, flustered, pretends to be a priest -- so effectively that he hears her confession!

But when Bix finds out Jonah has betrayed him (to his brother), he explodes and strikes him. Jonah, crushed, walks out. Bix turns to Father John for solace, and his painful secret is revealed: Bix was driving in an accident that killed their mother! The brothers argue blame, faith, and logic, but a phone call interrupts. Jonah has been hit by a car! Bix is devastated.

Father John discloses the trauma behind Bix's glib façade, and Angie's resistance crumbles. She hurries to his side and urges him to have faith Jonah will pull through. Bix takes her hand (their first physical contact) but smiles at her naiveté.

Indeed, Jonah lapses into coma. Bix's inner pain and anger erupt. On his knees in his brother's church, he rails at the impassive Being Who ignores suffering humanity. He confesses his loss of faith but pleads for Jonah's life until, desolate, he collapses, unaware that Angie and Father John have been observing. Angie is stunned by the depth of Bix's torment.

But the fun returns when Jonah spontaneously recovers, and his acid-tongued MAMA arrives to put everything and everyone back into place. Even Maggie's anxiety dissipates when Mama quickly warms to her; after all, Jonah's dad had a weakness for beautiful black women, too. Maggie begs her "Ice Queen" roomie to melt. Angie finally lets loose and grabs Bix in a bear hug, locking lips and souls.

A month later, Jonah is back on his feet, and Father John conducts Bix and Angie's wedding service. At the altar, Angie simmers as the brothers argue faith and logic. Did prayer save Jonah? Coincidence?

Maybe God is alive and listening after all.