Letters To Juliet

Director: Gary Winick
Writers: Jose Rivera, Tim Sullivan
Starring: Amanda Seyfried, Vanessa Redgrave, Christopher Egan
Release Date: May 14, 2010
Length: 1 hour 45 minutes

What would Shakespeare say if he found out one of his most beloved characters and legendary stories was put into a story as painfully agonizing as this? Would he be ashamed, especially to find out that the ending of this film was so cheesy, it was almost a mockery of one of his most famous scenes? No, I think he would just laugh at the writing we have for romantic films in this day and age. Twenty something, fact-checker, Sophie (Amanda Seyfried) goes to Verona for a pre-honeymoon with her self involved, unobservant fiancé, Vincent (Gael Garcia Barnel). When she visits the famous Juliet’s wall where different women put letters asking questions of Juliet, she see’s a suspicious woman take every letter and put it into her basket. After following this woman back to a house filled with five more Italian ladies, she is told they are the secretaries of Juliet who send letters back to all these women with answers to their questions. Sophie decides to work with them for the remainder of her trip while her fiancé is off on business around Italy. While clearing out letters from the wall, she finds a particular dusty one in a hidden spot, written in 1957 from an English woman named Claire (Vanessa Redgrave) who left her Italian lover waiting and doesn’t know what to do. Although a little late, Sophie responds to the letter and is soon confronted by the handsome cold grandson of Claire, Charlie (Christopher Egan) who tells Sophie that her reply has inspired his grandmother to go find her lost long Lorenzo. Upon meeting Claire, Sophie invites herself onto this romantic escapade through Italy, where she begins to have feelings for Charlie. Now, putting my love for Shakespeare aside, this film wasn’t completely horrible up until the ending. Although this is only Seyfried’s second romantic comedy, including Nicolas Sparks’ Dear John, if Seyfried continues down this road, I’ll begin to forget her hysterical performances in Mean Girls and Jennifer’s Body. Just like in Mamma Mia, Seyfried acts cute in Letters To Juliet because this isn’t exactly a film that allows her to show what an incredible actress she is, but it does show her choice in movies she takes. For Seyfried, this is barely a setback in her career. The true travesty is seeing academy award-winning actress Vanessa Redgrave in this film, however she was the best part of the movie. Overall I liked (not loved) this movie. Nothing special, but nothing horrible, Letters to Juliet is the kind of film that depends entirely on your tolerance level, which will make or break your enjoyment of this movie.