A Movie Review

Letters to Juliet


Review by Josh Martin

The movie “Letters to Juliet” was filmed mainly in the USA, but was partially shot on location in South Korea. The film was released May 14th 2010. The studio it was filmed at was, Bryant Park, Manhattan, New York City, USA. The music is excellent and has many popular numbers such as “I’m A Believer” sung in Italian. There were no special effects used in this film unless it was on the fantastic scenery.

The movie takes place in the broad countryside of Italy, although it starts in New York City. Sophie (Amanda Seyfried) is a young girl working as a fact checker for the New Yorker who is engaged to a new restaurant owner named Victor (Gael Garcia Bernal). A trip to Italy is required to find suppliers for Victor’s business. While he is traveling to visit different food merchants, Sophie meets a group a ladies who call themselves Juliet’s secretaries. A wall with letters pinned to it more plentifully than the bricks catches Sophie’s eye as she goes sightseeing. She stays to try to find out what the purpose of the letters are when she sees a woman come and take the letters down and put them in a basket. Sophie follows this girl and meets four women called the secretaries of Juliet. They explain the purpose of the letters is to ask for advice on what to do with a relationship. Sophie falls in love with the idea and offers to help. The next day she goes to collect the letters and finds a loose brick. Behind the brick is a letter dating back fifty years. She answers the letter, not expecting a response, but ends up meeting the girl who wrote the letter. Claire (Vanessa Redgrave) and her grandson Charlie (Christopher Egan) come to try to find a man that was a teenage flame of hers. Claire, Charlie, and Sophie scour the Italian countryside looking for the man from fifty years ago. After doing some searching briefly, they find out there are more than seventy men with the same name. Throughout the trip Sophie and Charlie argue as to whether or not the journey is a good idea, because Charlie doesn’t want his grandma to experience anymore heartache. Over time the tension starts to give and they become fast friends. Overall this was a very good movie. It was a typical chick flick, while still being enjoyable. It wasn’t very compelling at the beginning, but as the plot thickens it becomes hard to move from your seat. The romance and views of the Italian landscape keep one very captivated. This happy love story which has many different aspects including humor is a great family film that comes highly recommended.

In Christ alone,
Josh Martin