Letters to Juliet

Directed By: Gary Winick
Written By: Jose Rivera and Tim Sullivan
Starring: Amanda Seyfried, Vanessa Redgrave, Christopher Egan and Gael Garcia Bernal
Rated: PG

MY RATING: C +

Amanda Seyfried plays Sophie, a researcher and writer on vacation in Italy who stumbles upon an unanswered "letter to Juliet" that captures her heart.  Sophie becomes determined to find the two lovers in the letter to see where life has taken them.  She's joined on vacation by her inattentive fiance who's too wrapped up in his love for cuisine that he doesn't mind her setting off on her own adventure.  Charlie (Christopher Egan), now in Italy with his grandmother because of Sophie's interference, finds Sophie (Seyfried) and tries to convince her to leave well enough alone.  However Sophie makes her way to his grandmother Claire (Vanessa Redgrave) and they immediately have a connection.  Claire tells Sophie of her plans to find her long lost love Victor, and the three set off on a road trip around Italy to help Claire find her true love.  Naturally there's nothing like a road trip to bring two people closer together, despite Charlie and Sophie's attempts to avoid their chemistry.  In the end, who will find true love?

With a backdrop like Italy who cares about the rest!  Such a beautiful place and it immediately sets the right tone.
Letters to Juliet was a cute little film though!  "Cute" meaning it had a "they lived happily ever after" ending and nothing too complicated in between.  It had the usual predictability but very few romance films are surprising these days.  But we're not looking for suspense are we ladies?  We want romanticism, beautiful lines spoken by the lead actor that make you say "awww" and of course lots of chemistry.
Letters to Juliet got the job done but I wouldn't put it at the top of my list.
I loved Vanessa Redgrave in her role but I also just love her.  She puts you at ease so for her to play the sweet, passionate, laid-back grandmother in search of her long lost true love, it was a perfect fit.  Such a sweet story!  Then she's joined by her handsome grandson Charlie, played by Christopher Egan, who's her protector and companion.  I was wondering where did this charming actor come from?!  Mmm mmm!  He did a great job as the cynical but kind-hearted leading man.  Hell I fell in love with him!
But Amanda Siegfried, I'm not sure why but I'm not a huge fan of hers.  For her to be an actress she comes across very emotionless a lot of the time.  There were moments between her character Sophie and Charlie where I wanted to shake her to get a bigger smile out of her.  She's cute and has the big doe eyed thing going on but that's about it for me.  I'm not quite sure what makes her such a great actress, sorry.  I feel like someone else could've done a better job with the role.  Nonetheless I was still able to enjoy the movie.  Nothing was bad about it but it wasn't terribly impressive either.  It was very simple, sweet and cute.  The locations were beautiful and they all lived happily ever after.  Bellissimo!

So I say check this one out but there's no rush.