(If I really thought writing a letter to Juliet would nab me the Italian hottie of my dreams, don't you think I would have done so by now?)
CAST: Amanda Seyfried, Vanessa Redgrave, Christopher Egan, Gael Garcia Bernal, Franco Nero, Luisa Ranieri, Marissa Massironi, Lidia Biondi, Milena Vukotic.
DIRECTOR: Gary Winick
WARNING: Some SPOILERS and one awesome Italian Road Trip straight ahead...
I consider myself something of a shutterbug, and - humbly speaking - have taken many pictures in my time. Just like any other photographer, I am irresistibly drawn to photographing certain things. For me, that personal list is topped by: (1) cloisters, (2) stained-glass windows, (3) fountains, (3) sunlight streaming through trees, (4) seascapes, and (5) elderly couples walking hand-in-hand on streets.
That last category, in particular, is my favorite. There's nothing more intriguing to me than seeing an old couple walking together, joined by their hands. Maybe it's the romantic in me, but the sight invariably triggers several questions in my mind: (1) When did they meet? (2) How long have they been together? (3) What trials and tribulations have they endured to stay together? (4) What sacrifices have they made to protect each other? (5) What triumphs have they shared? (6) What have they forgiven one another for? (7) What does the future hold for them?
Despite my fear of commitment (which, truthfully, is not a fear of commitment, but a fear of committing to the wrong person), I think there's nothing more wonderful than growing old with someone. I realize it's most likely not always a bed of roses (what relationship is?), but there's something to be said for having someone by your side who is just as intimate with your own history as you are - and you with theirs. A lifetime shared with somebody is no small thing. And if you just happen to be sharing your life with someone you are crazy about, who is crazy about you right back, then you're very lucky indeed.
The themes of enduring love and finding a person to be mutually crazy about are at the heart of LETTERS TO JULIET. Our heroine is NYC journalist Sophie Miles (Amanda Seyfried), who is a fact-checker for the New Yorker. Sophie, however, longs to move up to writing feature articles, but is constantly being poo-pooed by her smarmy boss, Bobby (Oliver Platt).
Thankfully, Sophie has a distraction out of work in the form of Victor (Gael Garcia Bernal), her South American fiancee who loves Italian food and is about to open his very own Italian restaurant in Manhattan. In fact, as our story opens, Victor and Sophie are getting ready to fly to Verona in Northern Italy on a sort of working vacation. Victor plans to scout food suppliers for his new business, and will join Sophie for touring whenever feasible.
Except it doesn't quite pan out that way, since Victor seems to have more of a hard-on for cheese, prosciutto, and wine than for Sophie. Constantly weaseling out of his "dates" with his fiancee, Victor is clearly a lot less interested in touring with her than consulting with every single goddamn food supplier in the Verona/Milan area.
Basically, this leaves Sophie to wander forlorn around Verona. During one of these wanderings, she stumbles across the famed "Juliet's Wall." According to legend, this courtyard and balcony is where Romeo courted Juliet - and where Juliet uttered those immortal words. No, not "did you bring the condom." But rather, "Romeo, Romeo, wherefore art thou, Romeo?" Which actually may mean the same thing.
Now, the heartbroken from all over the world travel to this courtyard to post their "letters to Juliet." Furthermore, it turns out that a small team of women (Luisa Ranieri, Marissa Massironi, Milena Vukotic, Lidia Biondi) serve as "Juliet's secretaries." Basically, these gals do the following: (1) collect all the letters from the wall at the end of the day, (2) read every single one of them, and (3) respond to them via another letter.
Since Victor is obviously not going to untangle himself from all his food consulting, Sophie basically occupies herself by helping out Juliet's secretaries with their chores. At the end of one particular day, Sophie helps collects the letters - only to discover one hidden behind a loose brick. Evidently, it was written and hidden there about fifty years ago - and has gone unnoticed since then. Right. Of course...
Anyway, Sophie reads the letter out loud to the other secretaries. As it turns out, the letter is from a British woman named Claire, who wrote it when she was just fifteen. Evidently, she was touring in Northern Italy about fifty years ago when she met a dashing young Italian (is there any other kind?) named Lorenzo. Of course, they fell deeply in love. Unfortunately, as with their patron saints Romeo and Juliet, Lorenzo and Claire were separated by their opposing parents. The letter that Claire ultimately left at Juliet's wall asked if she should go to Lorenzo and run off with him. Problem is Claire did such a great job of hiding the letter that no one ever saw it and responded to it. Until now.
Sophie takes it upon herself to pen a response to Claire, who is likely residing in England now. Not long after that, a snooty blond Brit guy named Charlie (Christopher Egan) shows up at the secretaries' office demanding to know who wrote the letter that his, ahem, grandmother got. When Sophie owns up to it, Charlie basically berates her like she's a pre-schooler who just wrote the words "poo poo and wee wee" on the wall.
Fortunately, Claire doesn't have much tolerance for Matt Damon lookalikes with stuffy British accents who show up unannounced and treat her like shit. She basically gives as good as she gets, essentially calling him a prissy dickead. Aghast, Charlie goes running off to his grammy - who turns out to be Claire. Yes, folks. Claire is this choad's grandmother and is just outside at the wall - looking at the new batch of letters where she herself left one fifty years ago.
Long story short, Claire received Sophie's response and was so moved by it that she dragged her grandson Charlie all the way from England - to search for her long-lost Lorenzo. Charlie, of course, thinks this is about as advisable as Silvio Berlusconi releasing another album of Neapolitan ballads, and protests. Both Claire and Sophie pretty much tell him to go fuck himself and decide to track down Lorenzo - to see if it's not too late for him and Claire to hook up. And so begins Claire, Sophie, and Charlie's Great Northern Italian Road Trip. Partay!
So... Will they succeed? Will they find Lorenzo? What if he's already dead? And if not, what if he's not in love with Claire anymore? Will Victor ever start paying attention to Sophie? Or will he continue to be more in love with food than with her? Will Charlie start to thaw and treat Sophie like a human being? And if so, will he fall for her? For that matter, are Sophie's feelings for Victor strong enough to withstand her proximity to Charlie - even if he is, well, kind of a dick?
See for yourself. Just don't blame me if this movie inspires you to buy a ticket to Northern Italy and go touring. If you see Clark Kent, tell him I said "hi!"
BUT, SERIOUSLY: For anyone who likes solid romances that don't insult the intelligence or overdo the syrup factor, LETTERS TO JULIET is a perfect treat. And if you just happen to love Italy and everything about it, then this film will certainly make your day. Starting from a captivating premise and a solid script, LETTERS TO JULIET manages the feat of making the extraordinary seem attainable and - most importantly - believable.
As with any strong romance, a sturdy triangle is at the core of LETTERS TO JULIET. Sophie, Charlie, and Victor are all interesting and layered characters who constantly surprise us. Amanda Seyfried delivers a winning performance as Sophie, whose sunny nature and romantic outlook do not make her a ditz. In fact, Seyfried makes her not only believably soulful, but also credibly intelligent. Sophie may be a nice girl who believes in eternal love and happy endings, but doesn't take any crap from anyone. This is hilariously illustrated in her verbal jousting with Charlie. In fact, Egan and Seyfried take that hoary romantic comedy cliche ("the bickering couple who don't realize they are falling in love") and make it fresh and engaging. That is something.
Seyfried is also endlessly expressive. Without saying a single word, she conveys a multitude of emotions with her eyes and facial expressions. In fact, a scene near the end of the film, when Sophie is back in New York watching an elderly couple walk hand-in-hand in a park - and then makes a life-changing decision because of it - is simply glorious. And it's all due to Seyfried's lovely non-verbal acting.
Speaking of Christopher Egan, he is a delight as the droll-but-dreamy Charlie. He successfully sidesteps alienating the audience when Charlie has to be combative and arrogant towards Sophie in the early going, by hinting at tender depths beneath the character's caustic surface. As I mentioned above, their arguments are funny and smartly hint at a growing attraction. And when it's time for Charlie to turn soft towards Sophie, all the subtle groundwork laid by Egan pays off: he comes across a winningly vulnerable and decent.
The third leg of the central triangle is similarly fleshed out. While it's clear that Sophie will eventually end up with Charlie, the writers and Gael Garcia Bernal do not paint Victor in simple monochromatic colors. Instead, they shape him as a guy who has a great passion for food - and whose only failing is that his passion for Sophie does not come close to his first love of the culinary arts. In fact, after Sophie sees the elderly couple walking in the park near the end, she confronts Victor. It's an unexpectedly poignant scene - and it works primarily because of Garcia-Bernal's skills in showing this guy's different layers.
As for the "other" couple of LETTERS TO JULIET, Vanessa Redgrave and Franco Nero as Claire and Lorenzo provide the film's emotional heart. A real-life couple with an enduring love story of their own, Redgrave and Nero have been in each others' lives for almost as long as their onscreen counterparts have. This adds another intriguing layer to the themes of the film - and the authentic connection between the two of them comes across whenever they are onscreen together. Indeed, the scene in which Claire finally finds Lorenzo's home and then glimpses him - for the first time in fifty years - approaching on horseback is now one of the most memorable romantic scenes ever.
Finally, there's the gorgeous Northern Italian countryside, which is almost another character in the film. It's always been said that Southern Italy is the heart of Italia, but there's something about the more understated beauty of Northern Italy that clings to the mind and heart. I guess I love both sides of Italy, equally, but for their own reasons. Southern Italy is unforgettable because of its fire and passion, while Northern Italy is memorable because of its cooler and more understated beauty. If this movie doesn't inspire you to take a Northern Italian road trip of your own, then you may want to check your pulse. Or eyesight.
Verdict: LETTERS TO JULIET is that rare romantic comedy that manages to be both ordinary and extraordinary at the same time. It is pragmatic enough to keep your feet on the ground, but also passionate enough to make them lift off just a little. In short, it's almost perfect.
