Rental Review: Letters To Juliet

Several months ago I saw a preview for "Letters to Juliet" in the movie theater and decided immediately to see it. Somehow it came and went from the theater and I wound up adding to my Netflix queue.

"Letters to Juliet" is about a young woman, Sophie (played by Amanda Seyfried), who travels to Verona, Italy with her fiance for vacation. While in Verona she discovers Juliet's house (as in Juliet Capulet) where visitors leave letters for her in the wall of her house. Sophie uncovers that these "Dear Abby" type letters are collected each day by a group of women who call themselves the secretaries of Juliet. Sophie becomes enamored with this group of women and asks to join them.

Sophie's fiance, played brilliantly by Gael Garcia Bernal, spends their entire Italy trip testing out new food and wine for his soon-to-be-opened restaurant in New York City. He leaves Sophie to spend each day alone. Though he has minimal screen time, his larger than life personality jumps off the screen. I had only seen Bernal in serious roles before; it was fun to see him do something more light hearted.

Given her fiance's absence, Sophie spends her time in Verona with the secretaries and winds up responding to one of the letters to Juliet. Her letter was so heartfelt that the original scribe, named Claire, returns to Verona to re-ignite her quest for her long lost love, Lorenzo.

Claire is played by Vanessa Redgrave, whose character is the typical, wise grandmother passing down life lessons to the younger generation. She has traveled to Italy with her grandson, Charlie, who is bitter and jaded and wants no part of this quest for Lorenzo.

As this romantic comedy follows the same story arc as many before it, Charlie of course warms to Sophie and eventually falls head over heels for her. She is engaged, but feels it too and eventually ends her engagement to follow her heart back to Charlie. I must say, I didn't feel the chemistry between these two characters was genuine. I didn't believe that they were in love. They are both beautiful, but the pretty faces weren't enough.

Speaking of beautiful, throughout the film I kept noticing the gorgeous shots of the Italian landscapes and I wondered if they really filmed in Italy. On the DVD there was an excellent special features list, including a "making of" segment which went behind the scenes of the film shoot. It turns out the film was shot in Verona and all over Tuscany. Many of the actors shared that they absolutely fell in love with Italy during this shoot and that they felt it was like another critical character in the film. I agree! It was also fun to hear during the "making of" segment how each actor was cast and why. Thank goodness for the special features!

"Letters to Juliet" is like a fluffier version of "Under the Tuscan Sun." You won't be riveted, but you may want to book a trip to Verona!

 

Molly Galler

Welcome to Pop.Bop.Shop. My name is Molly. I’m a foodie, fashionista, pop culture addict and serious travel junkie. I’m a lifelong Bostonian obsessed with frozen confections, outdoor patios, Mindy Kaling, reality television, awards shows, tropical vacations, snail mail and my birthday.

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