with words of love....

On Mother's Day this year I took my mother to see Letters to Juliet. My mom's a tricky minx. She only watches romance movies and she's very specific about them. She desires sweeping epics and grand gestures that culminate into the romantic equivalent of a sonic boom. Her favorite movies are The Notebook (not surprising) and the Sissi L'Imperatrice anthology. She's read all of Nicholas Sparks' novels with a critical eye and when I took her to see Dear John, she was outraged at the mediocre ending. However she genuinely liked Letters to Juliet, which ultimately meant that while she was swooning, I was gagging in my seat. Now that doesn't mean it's a tragically bad movie. It has everything you expect from the genre. Amanda Seyfried, in her doe-eyed girly perfection, portrays the role of Sophie, an aspiring writer who finds inspiration for a story while on a pre-wedding vacation with her fiance. While in the city of Verona, she encounters a group of women who refer to themselves as the Secretaries of Juliet, because they respond to the thousands of letters women write in romantic desperation to Ms. Capulet in search of advice. Sophie answers one of these letters that causes Claire (Vanessa Redgrave) to return to a fifty-year old journey for love. Of course on the way Claire finds her lover and Sophie begins to fall for Claire's grandson. The plot is predictable and the dialogue is superficial. The saving grace of the film is the supporting cast. Regardless of the film's lack of real interest in Claire's character, Ms. Redgrave proves that she's a true actor and makes her simple moments on screen enjoyable and poignant. Gael Garcia Bernal, who plays Sophie's chef fiance, is so much fun to watch and I found myself actually rooting for him. Maybe I just hate other people's happiness. I don't think this film possess the same passion that The Notebook exudes but if you're looking for a simple film to make you simply remember love, than maybe writing to Juliet wouldn't be the worst thing.



The actor that play Claire's long lost love, Franco Nero, is Vanessa Redgrave's actual husband. Now that's romantic.