Letters to Juliet
Product Description
In Verona, Italy the beautiful city where Romeo first met Juliet there is a place where the heartbroken leave notes asking Juliet for her help. It s there that aspiring writer Sophie finds a 50-year-old letter that will change her life forever. As she sets off on a romantic journey of the heart with the letter’s author, Claire, now a grandmother, and her handsome grandson, all three will discover that sometimes the greatest love story ever told is your own.
DVD Features:
Audio Commentary with Amanda Seyfried and Director Gary Winick; Deleted and Extended Scenes; The Making of Letters to Juliet: In Italia; A Courtyard in VeronaAmazon.com
Letters to Juliet succeeds in being just what it’s meant to be, a feel-good romantic comedy about love lost and love found, in which love triumphs in the face of cynicism. Inspired by the book of the same name, and filmed against the beautiful backdrop of Verona, Italy, the movie tells the story of how troubled young women seek advice from Shakespeare’s Juliet by leaving letters tacked to a wall, where they are carefully answered by Juliet’s self-appointed “secretaries.” One such note is found 50 years later by Sophie (Amanda Seyfried), a young American woman who is soon to be married and who yearns to become a writer. Her heartfelt answer to the letter serves as a catalyst for an epic romantic journey that will span continents and generations. The success of the film lies in the powerful interaction between the wistfully romantic and fully mature author of the letter, Claire (Vanessa Redgrave); the romantically idealistic Sophie; and Claire’s overly pragmatic, downright cynical grandson Charlie (Christopher Egan), who grudgingly accompanies his grandmother on what he deems an insane quest to Verona to find her long lost love, Lorenzo. The filmmakers, writers, and actors all capitalize well on the comic possibilities of the situation, and there are more than a few good chuckles to be had at the absurdity of the interactions between these three very different characters, as they experience everything from hope and longing to disappointment and unexpected fulfillment. In the end, each character grows and changes profoundly as a result of their shared journey. Sure, the events portrayed in the film are highly unrealistic, but that doesn’t change the fact that the film speaks to that innermost part of us all that, despite all logic, makes us want to believe that true love really does exist and that it just might triumph in the end. –Tami Horiuchi
Price: $17.99
Buy Now: Letters to Juliet
Anthony Manno
I went into “Letters to Juliet” wondering if I was paying too much to see a movie that is pretty much told in the two-minute trailer.
I ended up enjoying every minute of it
Sophie goes to Verona with her fiancé. Victor becomes distracted by everything that might help his new restaurant, so she finds a way to make the best of her free time. Sophie discovers a group of women who reply to letters left for the doomed heroine of William Shakespeare’s classic love story.
The young woman finds a fifty-year-old letter and writes to the woman, who shows up with her uptight grandson less than a week later. The three of them set off to find the man Claire left behind.
The story is slightly predictable, but solid. The audience feels what the characters feel…whether it is Sophie’s frustration toward Victor, Charlie’s uncertainty about Sophie’s motives, or the humor they find when each “Lorenzo” shows a very unique personality.
And the soundtrack fits perfectly.
After the movie, I initially thought the PG rating was a little harsh. Then I remembered the content that is inappropriate for children.
PG: (1) A scene where extras touch the breast of a statue; (2) An obscene gesture; (3) Alcohol use; and (4) A thematic element that will go over most viewer’s heads.
This is the best romantic comedy that I have seen this year.
Rating: 5 / 5
Kindred Spirit
I went to this picture with my mom because I enjoy romantic films and adore Italian landscape. I was pleasantly surprised. The cast was absolutely charming, and I didn’t come away with that “why did they have to put that in there” feeling. A true “feel good” movie. So many films go along nicely then suddenly BAM! an unexpected horribly sad plot twist. This gets worse than old at times. I’m a big Austen fan, and although she wrote with unexpected plot twists she always ends with a happy, if predictable, ending. And how do “her” film adaptations do?! Awesome! Let’s hope hollywood learns something here. I hated to see the film end, and could have turned right around and watched it again. Way to Go! Some great young stars shine in this film. Hope to see them around again.
Rating: 4 / 5
AIROLF
This is the true story: In 19th century, people of Verona indicated a house as the residence of Juliet from William Shakespeare’s “Romeo and Juliet.” Later, in 1937, it became a tradition to go to Juliet’s grave in Verona and leave Juliet a letter about one’s love problems. In 1990s the amount of letters reached astronomical proportions and a group of volunteers, who call themselves “Club di Giulietta,” took it upon themselves to answer each and every letter that’s left for Juliet.
Enter Hollywood: A young woman named Sophie (played by Amanda Seyfried) on her pre-Honeymoon discovers a letter left unanswered since 1957 and decides to answer it. This sets in motion the entire movie and, lo and behold, the audience is following the film’s characters through Italy’s countryside in the search for one true love.
“Letters to Juliet” is a cute romantic comedy that has some pretty scenery and captures of Verona, Italy. The movie is rather unrealistic but in a nice, harmless way that makes the most critical of us smile. Although the film never transcends beyond the fairy-tale, it’s a sugar-sweet movie that leaves a pleasant feeling.
Amanda Seyfried struggles with the responsibility of carrying on a film as a leading lady and Gael García Bernal is miscast as the fiance that never has time for Sophie. It’s up to the film’s elders to make the story compelling and Vanessa Redgrave shines as the woman who wrote Juliet a letter and is moved to search for her long-lost true love after fifty years.
Rating: 3 / 5
Meredith Jordan
I took a dear elder aged friend to this movie on a bad day in his life, hoping to distract him momentarily from events he couldn’t do anything about. Instead, the movie re-invigorated both of us, and brought us repeatedly to tears. Say what you want about “feel good” movies, there are times when they are just what the doctor ordered!
Vanessa Redgrave is the heart of this film. The delicately fearless way she sets out to find her young lover, the grace with which she moves through the ups and downs of a process that could end in heartbreak, the care with which she brushes the young Sophie’s hair…she is simply and purely lovely. Women d’un certain age should enjoy the possibilities she presents for aging beautifully.
I also suspect this movie was made after the death of Redgrave’s daughter, Natasha Richardson, and so the scenes in which she calls Sophie “my darling” and loves her so freely are especially moving. Hollywood, listen up! Cast more Vanessa Redgraves, Judy Denschs and Helen Mirrens as stars in movies about life after 60, and you’ll fill the theaters.
Rating: 5 / 5
M. Goodwin
I went to watch this film last night, mainly to see Vanessa Redgrave, and Franco Nero acting together again, having seen them in Camelot a long while ago.
I am an old romantic, hence Camelot being my favourite film of all time, but I have to say Letters to Juliet will now come a close second.
It was a pleasure to watch, The story line was a bit cute, but enjoyable nonetheless.
I found some of the scenes quite moving. I know wether I am enjoying a film as I smile all the time and thats exactly what I did.
The scenery was wonderfull, and will encourage many visitors to beautifull Verona and the wonderfull Italy.
Pleasant, romantic, sceneic, funny, what more could you ask for. Curl up with a box of chocolates.
Rating: 5 / 5