Letters to Juliet

I had better start of this post by making the traditional comment that I was “dragged along” to see Letters to Juliet by my other half.  This is mainly true, though I must confess that I mentioned the film to Ivy because I thought it was something she might enjoy.
   The basic plot is that a young woman, engaged to a self-centred chef, happens upon a wall in Italy while on holiday where star-crossed lovers (all apparently female) write sob letters to Juliet (she of Romeo and Juliet).  This might actually happen for all I know – something akin to would-be clients writing to Holmes at 122b Baker Street.  Anyway, a bunch of woman have taken to answering the letters, so our heroine mucks in while self-centred fiancé swans off tracking down delicious Italian foods.  Lo and behold she discovers in a hole in the wall a letter written some 50 years ago by a girl who didn’t go to her meeting with her lover, and regretted it ever after.  Predictably, our heroine decides to answer the letter, and the by now old woman’s grandson turns up shortly afterwards to complain that she is stirring up a hornet’s nest.  Grandmother is now hell-bent on finding her lover of fifty years ago, and what sort of problems is that going to cause etc etc?
   The film is completely predictable, but that doesn’t matter much with this genre.  You know that heroine and grandson, despite fighting like dog and cat at the start of the film, are going to fall in love and be happy ever after (self-centred chef gets the boot - actually Ivy seemed to like his character best of all and giggled wildly at his antics).  You know that grandmother is going to find her long lost love, and that he will prove to be alive, well, and most important of all, still available.  And so it all transpires.  It was quite good fun, and my only criticism is that heroine/grandson didn’t seem to have much chemistry going so that their eventual love affair was a little laboured, while their arguments sounded much more real.  It’s not a masterpiece, but neither is it a disastrous flop.  If you like this sort of film, you’ll probably enjoy it.
add comment | read comments (0) 2010-06-20