Letters to Juliet

Much like this weekend's other romantic comedy release, Just Wright, Letters to Juliet manages to take a time-honored and very worn light romance plot, and freshen it up with some bright performances and smarter writing than the norm. I actually enjoyed this one more than the Queen Latifah film. A lot of it has to do with the talented and beautiful Amanda Seyfried and Vanessa Redgrave in lead roles, who both are given the chance to create likable and memorable characters here. The gorgeous scenery shot on location in Verona, Italy helps a lot as well. This is one of those movies that will inspire dream vacations for years to come.

The plot is certainly nothing new, but that comes with the territory by now. In my opinion, a romantic comedy lives or dies by its lead characters, and whether we wish to see them get together by the end. It also helps if they've been written with a certain degree of intelligence, and are allowed to at least act like adults. The characters in Letters to Juliet do act kind of silly and nonchalant for adults, but they are grounded with enough maturity that they don't come across as total morons. Seyfried plays Sophie, a fact checker for The New Yorker magazine who dreams of writing her own articles and marrying her fiance, Victor (Gael Garcia Bernal), who clearly loves her, but seems much more interested and focused on his dream of opening an Italian restaurant. She realizes this when they go to Verona together for a "pre-Honeymoon" vacation, and all he can think about is visiting wine vineyards and top chefs to get recipes for his new restaurant, instead of spending time with her. Touring the city alone, Sophie comes across the house representing the character of Juliet from Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet. It's there that she learns that women from all over the world visit the house and leave letters asking Juliet for advice in matters of love and heartbreak.

There are a team of women dedicated to answering the letters that are left behind every day, and Sophie becomes wrapped up in the idea, and joins them in writing responses. This leads to a fateful discovery when Sophie discovers a letter from 50 years ago hidden behind a loose brick in the house. The letter is from a then fifteen-year-old girl named Claire who talks of a man she fell in love with in Verona named Lorenzo, but she had to leave home for London, England. Sophie decides to respond to the letter, not certain if it will even reach the person, or even if this Claire is still at the address listed. Fortunately, enough, she is, and the now elderly Claire (Vanessa Redgrave) and her handsome yet ill-tempered grandson Charlie (Christopher Egan) arrive in Verona to both find the woman who responded to her letter from long ago, and to hopefully track down the man Claire was forced to leave. Sophie agrees to help them on their search, and they begin a wide search across Verona for the elusive Lorenzo.

I don't think it's a spoiler to reveal that Sophie and Charlie start out hating each other and trading sarcastic barbs, but slowly begin to see more in each other during the course of the road trip. I'm also sure that some of the more logical members of the audience will wonder why the three heroes waste so much time driving around, going door-to-door asking for information, when they could just call or do all their research on line. The answer is simple, really. First, logic has no place in a piece of fluff entertainment, even a fine crafted one such as this. And second, we wouldn't be treated to the beautiful and perfectly photographed landscapes. There's something to be said for cinematography in a movie such as this. Director Gary Winick (recovering nicely from last year's unwatchable Bride Wars) knows how to make the Italian landscape part of the film, without focusing so much that it takes center stage and we feel like we're watching a travelogue. He also knows how to get the perfect tone out of his cast, so that no matter how slight or predictable the plot may get, we never lose interest in the characters.

And that's really the key here. We like the characters, we like the performances, and we want to see the characters end up happy in the end. As always, it's all about chemistry. As the central lovers, Seyfried and Egan have great on-screen chemistry, both antagonistic and eventually romantic. Yes, their relationship is forced and somewhat fanciful, but their performances help flesh out what could have been two dimensional characters that were slaves to the plot, and turn them into characters that are easy to like. Seyfried makes a great romantic dreamer with her expressive eyes, and Egan's dry wit makes a good counter-balance. As for Redgrave, her character may exist mainly to drive the plot, but she still manages to make the character stand out with plenty of warmth, charm, and the lines that get the biggest laughs in the film. Her younger co-stars may be the center of the film, but she steals scenes away from them every chance she gets.

I always say I know a romantic comedy is working when I can let go of my cynical or logical side, and just get lost in the romantic fantasy up on the screen. Letters to Juliet accomplishes this with a lot of grace, wit, and charm. This is not only a well-made film, but one that I found myself enjoying a lot more than I expected. Hopefully it finds an audience with women and couples amongst the summer blockbusters. Even if it doesn't, it's certain to have a long life on TV in the coming years.

See the movie times in your area or buy the DVD at Amazon.com!

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