Baseball has its pinch hitters. In my social circle, we have what I have coined the pinch viewer. A pinch viewer is a substitute movie date. If, for example, a movie is known to be full of blood, gore or Will Farrell in some state of undress, my friends will suggest that their husbands go see it with their brothers or work pals. If, on the other hand, a movie is three tissue affair, well, that’s where I come in.
As the singleton (gotta love Bridget Jones) in the ranks and as a gal who is known to have a penchant for hopelessly romantic storylines, I am the go to girl when a friend wants to see the chick flick du jour. This is how I ended up seeing
Letters to Juliet the other night. My friend Nancy’s husband, Jimmy, broke out in a cold sweat at the very thought of having to sit through it so he suggested that I take his place.
I still owe you all a few
From Hair to Eternity movie reviews from last February and at some point, when I determine that we all need a shot of adrenaline to shake us out of our Florida heat - induced summer comas, I will deliver the goods. Right now, however, with the school year winding down and with the economy looking up, I think it’s time that we all take a trip to Verona.
As you may recall, in my
From Hair to Eternity mini-reviews, I give each film an overall rating and I evaluate it in two categories: 1) What I thought of the female lead’s hair and 2) whether or not there was any chemistry between the main characters. I also let you know what I found to be the most romantic scene in each movie and what, if any, lesson(s) I learned from watching it. So, without further ado, I give you the newest installment of
From Hair to Eternity, this time featuring the movie,
Letters to Juliet w/Amanda Seyfried, Vanessa Redgrave, Christopher Egan, Gael Garcia Bernal and Franco Nero
Letters to Juliet
Hair B+: Amanda Seyfried has pale skin and she wears very little or very natural looking makeup. She has thick eyebrows, lips on the fuller side and a nose that is not in any Hollywood plastic surgeon’s inspiration book. She is, in fact, quite average looking in appearance and build with the exception of two things: her big - I mean crazy big, blue/green eyes - and her hair.
Amanda Seyrfried’s hair is the stuff of adolescent boys’ dreams: soft looking, shiny, full bodied, exceptionally long, layered blond hair that frames her face perfectly. Amanda Seyfried oozes girl next door charm (if the girl next door had the type of hair that could’ve landed her one of those 70s era Breck girl ads). Amanda’s hair is what you think of when you hear her name. It defines her. In fact, I half way expected it to get its own billing in the movie. That’s how fabulous it is. (It’s not for nothing that she’s on the cover of the current issue of
InStyle Hair.)
One of the things that really struck me the most about this movie was its visual impact. It was, after all, filmed primarily in and around Verona, Italy. Amanda’s hair held its own against the breathtaking countrysides and charming old buildings. I challenge you to find a single person – male or female - who has watched this movie who doesn’t have something to say about Amanda Seyfried’s hair. It really did look amazing.
As for Vanessa Redgrave, whose white gray hair fell loosely below her shoulders and was sometimes pulled back in a ponytail, Nancy and I were conflicted.
Nancy felt like it didn’t do her justice and she suggested several other styles that would’ve been more flattering. I thought it was fitting for her character – an older, widowed, tell it like it is, Brit, who had the residual confidence of one who really had it going on in her youth.
Chemistry B: (Spoiler alert)There were really three couples to evaluate here: Sophie (Amanda Seyfried) and her finance, Victor (Gael Garcia Bernal),
Sophie and Charlie (Christopher Egan), the grandson of Vanessa Redgrave’s character, Claire
and Claire and Lorenzo (Franco Nero).
As for the youngsters, I just wasn’t feeling it. Amanda Seyfried burned up the screen with Tatum Channing in Dear John. (Guess that’s not really a fair evaluation because a rock could’ve burned up the screen with Tatum Channing) The chemistry also felt real between her and Dominic Cooper, her Mama Mia co-star, particularly in their Take a Chance on Me duet on the beach. (Guess it was real as Mama Mia was their Mr and Mrs Smith. Apparently the couple got together in real life during the filming of Mama Mia, much to the dismay of Cooper’s long time, live in girlfriend back home).
There was supposed to be a disconnect between Sophie and Victor, so we’d root for the cynical on the outside, devoted grandson and there was. Victor wasn’t completely devoid of appealing traits, but he was so distracted by his true love, food, that I wanted to break up with him for her (and as those who know me can attest, I have been known to patch broken relationships back together when there was no sign of hope.)
We were supposed to feel the heat between Sophie and Charlie and sorry, but I didn’t. About half way through the movie, we found out that Charlie’s parents had been killed when he was a child and that he had gone through a break up with an on again off again girlfriend about a year prior. This insight was intended to explain his gruff manner. While it did, it still didn’t make him endearing. The change from curmudgeon to would be charmer was just too abrupt for me. I did want Sophie and Charlie to get together, but I wanted it in the way that I want my favorite non-Dolphin team to win the Superbowl. I was cheering for them, but not loudly and I didn’t really feel strongly one way or another about their romantic future.
Vanessa Redgrave (Claire) and Franco Nero (Lorenzo), on the other hand, had chemistry. When Lorenzeo first looked into Claire’s eyes after fifty plus years of separation, well, the feeling was palpable. Was it a stereotype? Of course, but like I said in my review of The Notebook, if it works, it works and this worked.
What I didn’t realize until I got home was that Vanessa Redgrave and Franco Nero are married in real life. Apparently they are one of those couples who married young when in grips of lust and passion. They then split and reconciled years later because they never really got over each other.
(They met in 1966, when she played Guinevere and he Lancelot in the movie Camelot. They had a son together in 1969. Sometime after this, they broke up, though they remained close. At some point in the mid – 1990s, they got back together as a couple and they have been married since 1996.)
Most Romantic Scene: This is a no-brainer. The one mentioned above and featured prominently in the movie trailers, where Lorenzo comes riding out of the fields and recognizes his long lost love after almost five decades, is the money scene of the movie.
Lesson Learned: I want to go to Italy. I actually didn’t learn that in this movie, so much as remembered it. I have taken a couple of sessions of adult education Italian and though, I still don’t know much more than how to say, "Thank you!" and "Please pass the wine."; I would love to have the opportunity to put my limited language skills to the test.
Overall Rating B: My expectations going into this movie were low. I saw some particularly formulaic romantic comedies back in February and I knew this one had gotten mediocre reviews at best. I also knew it was directed by Gary Winick, who had been at the helm of the completely pointless, Bride Wars.
This film surprised me. I liken it to those little crème filled sugar wafers that can be found on the snack aisle at Walgreens… the kind I know I shouldn’t like, but still do. Will this one win any Academy Awards? Nope. The scenery was breathtaking, though. The food was as much of a character in this movie as it was in Julie and Julia and it did make me smile.
Do you want the plot? Hmmm. Well basically, a fact checker/wannabe serious writer from The New Yorker (Sophie) and her fiancé, Victor, a chef who is about to open a restaurant in New York, go to Verona, Italy on what is supposed to be a pre-wedding romantic vacation. Once there, Victor is wined and dined and wooed and distracted by an elderly Italian home cook and by his suppliers from vineyards, cheese shops and produce vendors all over the region. Bored with this, Sophie goes off on her own to sightsee. During her travels, she discovers a small group of women who answer letters that the lovelorn put into chinks in an old stone wall which is part of a replica of Juliet’s famous balcony.
Sophie joins the group and as a result, responds to a 50 year old letter she finds tucked back behind a newly dislodged rock in the wall. It tells of a relationship between two people who weren’t supposed to fall in love, but did: a young, well to do British girl traveling abroad and the son of an Italian farmer. In short order – very short order it would seem (think Jimmy John’s sandwich delivery fast) – the letter’s writer, Claire, and Claire’s grandson, Charlie, show up. Claire, now a widow curious about her long lost love, Lorenzo, and moved to action by Sophie’s letter and Charlie, there to accompany his Gram, though none too happy about it, soon find themselves driving the Italian countryside with Sophie in a quest to find Lorenzo.
Remember that bit in My Big Fat Greek Wedding about everyone being named Nicholas? Well, apparently everyone in Italy is named Lorenzo. Anyway, after finding Lorenzos everywhere from a marina to a cemetery - There are a few amusing scenes that take place during the search - they finally find THE Lorenzo, now a widower, by way of his look alike grandson. It’s all very romantic, as you might imagine.
This movie reminded me of My Life in Ruins in that it consisted of a predictable plot (the defining moment in Sophie and Charlie’s relationship is when he climbs a balcony to get to her) set against a backdrop of spectacular scenery. I liked it better than I liked My Life in Ruins though. In this movie, the whole just seemed to be greater than the sum of its parts… for me anyway. I found Sophie’s character likeable. I loved Vanessa Redgrave and Franco Nero, both individually and as a couple. I enjoyed listening to the little bits of spoken Italian and trying to see if I could understand them. I left the theater craving truffles, parmigiano reggiano and a full bodied red wine and the movie ended with a girl who likes to write falling in love with someone who came into her life seemingly out of nowhere and swept her off her feet – literally. (See reference to balcony scene above. :)
I didn’t expect to like this one and I did. Nancy did too. Would Jimmy have? Will your husband, boyfriend or significant other? I’m thinking no.
Here’s my recommendation: Listen to that old edict from the Prince of Verona and don’t let there be unrest in your house. Tell your guy to go do whatever he likes to do when he narrowly escapes accompanying you to a romantic comedy, grab a designated viewer, eat somewhere fabulous first (so you can watch all those scenes with the pasta and bruschetta without feeling hostile towards your tub of oily movie theater popcorn) and go enjoy Verona.
