Letters to Juliet -- Review

In the eyes of true love, is there a time limit for how long love lasts?  Is there an expiration date on love?  What if the timing just wasn't right during that first meeting, what then? How long can love hold on?  And who would you ask for help with these questions?  Letters to Juliet is a heart warming romantic comedy that takes you on a journey through the Italian countryside in search for a woman's true love. 

Letters to Juliet is every chick's perfect flick.  The story is cute, the country is beautiful, and there's a hottie with a foreign accent.  What girl wouldn't fall head over heels in love and straight into a romanticoma? 

Well, even though the story is very enjoyable I struggled with the pacing and length of the film.  Keep in mind it follows the story of a woman who waited 50 years to goes back in search of her true love after receiving a letter from secretaries of Juliet telling her "It's never too late!" The film appears to have some difficulty keeping the story moving, but with the help of the beautiful Vanessa Redgrave and the young starlet Amanda Seyfried the story is a fun film for a mother/daughter or grandmother/granddaughter day-out.  Personally I would not recommend Letters to Juliet for a date film as the comedic side to this romantic comedy is much lighter than your typical romantic comedy.  I did find the chemistry between Amanda Seyfried (HBO's Big Love) and her love interest played by Aussie hottie Christopher Egan (NBC's Kings) to be believable in a very Shakespearean influenced love story with two happy endings. 

Letters to Juliet is a breathtakingly beautiful film that will make you want to catch the next flight to Italy, however I found the idea of Juliet's secretaries to be truly the selling point for me.  I love the idea that hope and second chances are being spread around the world as letters flood the Secretaries of Juliet in Verona.  Yes, this is the romantic in me speaking, but to think that for all the time we girls spend shedding tears over a lover, and the number of pints of Ben and Jerry ice cream consumed after a breakup, the idea that there are women (maybe men too) giving hope and advice, the sympathetic ear on behalf of one of the greatest female heroines in literary history is a remarkable story all on its own.  And after a little research not only did I discover that there is a club that actually exists call the Club of Juliet, but I read that leading lady Vanessa Redgrave and real life husband Franco Nero had a similar story of reconnecting many years later and marrying just adds another dimension to the story being told. 

Letters to Juliet is a cute film about true love and how it is NEVER too late to go after it, though we now use the internet and have lost the romance and excitement that adds to the romance when waiting for the snail mail to arrive.  With a cast full of such strong actors and some Shakespearean flavor this film will make your hear grow just a little.  So if you are a mother/grandmother spending some time with your daughter/granddaughter this weekend I would recommend this film.  I give Letters to Juliet a 3.5 out of 5.

(A Personal Note: In writing this I also found that event he not famous rekindle their true love, as I discovered while writing this that my very own parents had crushes on each other in high school, but didn't marry until 15 plus years later after they reconnected.)

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