Letters to Juliet

Highly recommended for chick-flick lovers (like me)

A Romance with a capital 'R.'  Amanda Seyfried, who is in danger of being typecast as the spunky, intelligent romantic lead is perfect as a young woman who stumbles on a program sponsored by the city of Verona, answering letters that the lovelorn send to Shakespeare's Juliet.  She gets involved in the life of a girl who sent her letter over 55 years earlier.

Being a film influenced heavily, and overtly, by Romeo and Juliet, they couldn't resist putting in a balcony scene towards the end. It feels like the unnecessary gag it is, but fortunately is over quickly.  The rest of the film is pretty spot-on.

Letters to Juliet is a gorgeous film, shot mostly in Italy and with a warm light that makes every vista and landscape look like a renaissance painting.  I had a little trouble liking the male lead at first, but that might be because he was playing the standoffish but redeemable jerk character.  The actor was played by Christopher Egan, which is a swell name but of no significance to the movie, only to people with my last name.

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