Letters to Juliet
2/4
Starring: Amanda Seyfried, Christopher Egan, Vanessa Redgrave, Gael Garcia Bernal
Rated PG for Brief Rude Behavior, Some Language and Incidental Smoking
Despite having the presence of two gifted actresses and a director who has done great work before ("Tadpole"), "Letters to Juliet" is kind of a trial. It looks great and has some wonderful views of Italy, but the romance is undeveloped and the film lacks focus.
Sophie (Seyfried) is a fact-checker for the New Yorker, although she longs to be a writer. She's been engaged for a year to restaurateur Victor (Bernal) and because he's about to open a new restaurant, they decide to go on their honeymoon before the wedding. But Victor busies himself buying things for his restaurant instead of spending time with Sophie. While alone, she finds Juliet's (Shakespeare's Juliet) secretaries, a group of women who answer letters that lovelorn women leave on her wall. One day she finds a letter buried in the wall for 50 years by a woman who chickened out of marriage when she was fifteen. Sophie writes back and a few days later, the woman, named Claire (Redgrave) shows up and intends to look for her Lorenzo. With her is her grandson, Charlie (Egan), a stiff Brit who thinks that this is lunacy. Sophie tags along intending to write a story about it, but it may turn out that the love story is her own.
"Letters to Juliet" falls into the pit that many romances do: too much time is spent on the plot instead of allowing the romance to flourish. Despite them falling in love, Sophie and Charlie spend only a few short scenes together. More affecting is Claire's search for her old love, Lorenzo Bartolini. This is because more time is spent with it and Redgrave is such an amazing actress.
The acting is good, but not enough to save the movie. Amanda Seyfried is one of the most talented and exciting actresses of her age group. She's as talented as she is gorgeous, and she is perfectly cast as the lovely Sophie. Seyfried gives a better performance than the script demands, which highlights its deficiencies. It goes without saying that Vanessa Redgrave is just as good as the matchmaking Claire. She has regrets, but it mature enough not to dwell on them. She views this little adventure as an opportunity to right past wrongs and move forward. Less impressive is Christopher Egan; he's a hunk, but his range is obviously limited. He and Seyfried do have chemistry, but based on the limited evidence, it's more like a high school fling rather than a timeless love.
This was Gary Winick's final film before he died early last year of brain cancer. It's a sour note to end his brief career on, but then again, this film was produced by Summit Entertainment, who love only the beautiful and the shallow (they are responsible for the "Twilight" franchise). The film looks great, but there's not much going on beneath the surface.
Trust me, skip this one and go to the theater to see "Titanic" again.
Starring: Amanda Seyfried, Christopher Egan, Vanessa Redgrave, Gael Garcia Bernal
Rated PG for Brief Rude Behavior, Some Language and Incidental Smoking
Despite having the presence of two gifted actresses and a director who has done great work before ("Tadpole"), "Letters to Juliet" is kind of a trial. It looks great and has some wonderful views of Italy, but the romance is undeveloped and the film lacks focus.
Sophie (Seyfried) is a fact-checker for the New Yorker, although she longs to be a writer. She's been engaged for a year to restaurateur Victor (Bernal) and because he's about to open a new restaurant, they decide to go on their honeymoon before the wedding. But Victor busies himself buying things for his restaurant instead of spending time with Sophie. While alone, she finds Juliet's (Shakespeare's Juliet) secretaries, a group of women who answer letters that lovelorn women leave on her wall. One day she finds a letter buried in the wall for 50 years by a woman who chickened out of marriage when she was fifteen. Sophie writes back and a few days later, the woman, named Claire (Redgrave) shows up and intends to look for her Lorenzo. With her is her grandson, Charlie (Egan), a stiff Brit who thinks that this is lunacy. Sophie tags along intending to write a story about it, but it may turn out that the love story is her own.
"Letters to Juliet" falls into the pit that many romances do: too much time is spent on the plot instead of allowing the romance to flourish. Despite them falling in love, Sophie and Charlie spend only a few short scenes together. More affecting is Claire's search for her old love, Lorenzo Bartolini. This is because more time is spent with it and Redgrave is such an amazing actress.
The acting is good, but not enough to save the movie. Amanda Seyfried is one of the most talented and exciting actresses of her age group. She's as talented as she is gorgeous, and she is perfectly cast as the lovely Sophie. Seyfried gives a better performance than the script demands, which highlights its deficiencies. It goes without saying that Vanessa Redgrave is just as good as the matchmaking Claire. She has regrets, but it mature enough not to dwell on them. She views this little adventure as an opportunity to right past wrongs and move forward. Less impressive is Christopher Egan; he's a hunk, but his range is obviously limited. He and Seyfried do have chemistry, but based on the limited evidence, it's more like a high school fling rather than a timeless love.
This was Gary Winick's final film before he died early last year of brain cancer. It's a sour note to end his brief career on, but then again, this film was produced by Summit Entertainment, who love only the beautiful and the shallow (they are responsible for the "Twilight" franchise). The film looks great, but there's not much going on beneath the surface.
Trust me, skip this one and go to the theater to see "Titanic" again.
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