Letters to Juliet

Letters to Juliet

Theatrical release poster
Directed by Gary Winick
Produced by
Written by
Starring
Music by Andrea Guerra
Cinematography Marco Pontecorvo
Edited by Bill Pankow
Distributed by Summit Entertainment
Release dates
  • April 25, 2010 (2010-04-25) (Tribeca Film Festival)
  • May 14, 2010 (2010-05-14)
Running time
 105 minutes
Country United States
Italy
Language English, Italian
Budget $30 million[1]
Box office $80 million [2]

Letters to Juliet is a 2010 American romantic drama film starring Amanda Seyfried, Christopher Egan, Vanessa Redgrave, Gael García Bernal and Franco Nero. This was the final film of director Gary Winick. The film was released theatrically in North America and other countries on May 14, 2010. The idea for the film was inspired by the 2006 non-fiction book Letters to Juliet, by Lise Friedman and Ceil Friedman, which chronicles the phenomenon of letter-writing to Shakespeare's most famous romantic heroine.

Plot

Sophie (Amanda Seyfried) is a young American woman who works for The New Yorker as a fact checker. She goes on a pre-honeymoon with her chef fiancé Victor (Gael García Bernal) to Verona, Italy. Victor is unmoved by the romance of Italy and uses his time to research his soon-to-open restaurant, often neglecting Sophie. Sophie accidentally discovers an unanswered "letter to Juliet" by a Claire Smith from 1957, one of thousands of missives left at the fictional lover's Verona courtyard that are typically answered by the "Secretaries of Juliet". She answers it and within a week the now elderly Claire Smith (Vanessa Redgrave) arrives in Verona with her handsome barrister grandson Charlie Wyman (Christopher Egan). Claire and Sophie take an instant liking to each other, but Charlie and Sophie do not get along.

Following the advice in Sophie's reply, Claire decides to look for her long-lost love, Lorenzo Bartolini (Franco Nero). Sophie, thinking Claire's story might help her with her writing career, helps Claire. The two find out that there are many Lorenzo Bartolinis living in the area. After many days of searching for the right Lorenzo, they find that one is dead. Charlie blames Sophie for his grandmother's sadness. He accuses her of not knowing what real loss is. Claire, witnessing the dispute, tells Charlie he was wrong and that Sophie's mother had walked away from her when she was a little girl. The following day, Claire insists that Charlie apologize to Sophie at breakfast, which he does. After dinner, Sophie talks to Charlie about love, and the two kiss. The following morning is their last day of searching for Lorenzo. On a whim, Claire points out a vineyard to Charlie and asks if he could stop so they can have a farewell drink for Sophie. As Charlie drives down the road, Claire sees a young man who looks exactly like her Lorenzo. They discover the man is Lorenzo Bartolini's grandson, and Claire and Lorenzo reunite.

Back in New York, Sophie breaks up with Victor before returning to Verona to attend Claire and Lorenzo's wedding. She finds Charlie with another woman, Patricia, and runs out crying. Charlie comes out to find her, and she admits she loves him but tells him to go back to Patricia. Charlie reveals that Patricia is his cousin and tells Sophie he loves her. He climbs up the vine to the balcony, recreating the original famous scene from Romeo and Juliet, but accidentally falls down, and they kiss as he lies on the ground.

Cast

Release and reception

Critical reception

Letters to Juliet received mixed reviews from critics. Review aggregate Rotten Tomatoes gives the film a rating of 40% based on 151 reviews, with an average score of 5.1/10. The site's critical consensus reads "Letters to Juliet has a refreshingly earnest romantic charm, but it suffers from limp dialogue and an utter lack of surprises."[4] Metacritic gives it an average score of 50 out of 100 based on 34 critics, indicating "mixed or average reviews".[5]

Box office

Letters to Juliet opened at #3 to $13,540,486 behind Iron Man 2's second weekend and Robin Hood.[6] In its second weekend, the film dropped 33.5% with $9,006,266 into #4.[7] The film eventually grossed $53,032,453 domestically and $79,181,750 worldwide.[2]

Soundtrack Lists

References

  1. ↑ Fritz, Ben (16 May 2010). "First Look: 'Robin Hood' wobbly in U.S. but hits target overseas". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved 16 May 2010.
  2. 1 2 "Letters to Juliet (2010)". Box Office Mojo. Retrieved October 26, 2012.
  3. ↑ Roger Ebert. "Letters to Juliet Review". Chicago Sun-Times. Retrieved 2010-05-22.
  4. ↑ "Letters to Juliet (2010)". Rotten Tomatoes. Retrieved October 21, 2016.
  5. ↑ "Letters to Juliet reviews". Metacritic. Retrieved October 21, 2016.
  6. ↑ Weekend Box Office Results for May 14-16, 2010 - Box Office Mojo
  7. ↑ Weekend Box Office Results for May 21-23, 2010 - Box Office Mojo

External links

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