Letters to Juliet

When a young American travels to the city of Verona, home of the star-crossed lover Juliet Capulet of Romeo and Juliet fame, she joins a group of volunteers who respond to letters to Juliet seeking advice about love. After answering one letter dated 1951, she inspires its author to travel to Italy in search of her long-lost love and sets off a chain of events that will bring a love into both their lives unlike anything they ever imagined.

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Every so often, a movie comes along that seems to hit the right notes. One that actually moves you. As the cliche goes, it makes you laugh, it makes you cry.

This film is one of those.

The movie stars Amanda Seyfried (Chloe, Dear John) as Sophie, a fact-checker at the New Yorker who wants to be a writer, but lacks the courage to let anyone read her work. Her fiance, workaholic Victor (Gael Garcia Bernal), is planning to open a restaurant, so they take a "pre-honeymoon" trip to Italy before the opening.

Once there, Victor predictably makes it a working vacation and wants to visit the suppliers. Sophie is left to sightsee alone. She finds the home of Juliet, where heartbroken women leave notes for Juliet's "secretaries" to answer with advice. It is there that Juliet finds a note from Clare (Vanessa Redgrave), which she answers. This leads to Clare and her grandson Charlie (Christopher Egan) traveling to Verona to start a search for her long-lost first love, Lorenzo (Franco Nero).

We all know how it ends, but like in life, it's the journey that matters. Along the way, we are treated to scenes of old Verona city streets, sun-washed vineyards, and meals with Italian families. You can almost taste the food...I found that one of the refreshing aspects of the movie was the male characters. They're more realistic than in most romantic comedies. We all know the Victors of the world who are consumed with their work. And we all know the Charlies who kind of pale in comparison to the intensity of the Victors, but are generally good-hearted souls who will be more better in relationships in the long-run.Egan's performance as Charlie is particularly effective. He brings a sense of humor to Charlie's stuffiness. He's so stuffy that it's funny. Gael Garcia Bernal gives his usual great performance, this time in a supporting role. His Victor is not the bad guy, but he's the kind of guy that is so passionate about his work, that there's no room for women like Sophie who want more from a relationship.Vanessa Redgrave is fantastic as Claire. She brings a sense of gravitas, wisdom, and a lot of warmth to the role. She and Seyfried play off well against each other. And when Claire meets her Lorenzo... let's just say the tissues came out in force.My only problem with the film is that it sometimes moves to quickly. The scenery passes by too quickly. And some of the scenes between Sophie and Charlie in the cafes and under the stars are a bit too succinct. I would have liked to have seen more about why Sophie and Charlie are perfect for each other, and the magic of meeting "the One" on tour in a foreign land.This is a romantic film with believable male characters and a lot of heart. It's reminiscent of "Under the Tuscan Sun," so if you liked that film you should like this one, too.If you're taking your girlfriend on a date, and your name is not George Clooney, then you're in luck. Not only will you get credit for taking her to see a romance, but she may come out of the film looking at you with a new sense of appreciation.