Sophie (Amanda Seyfried) is a fact checker for The New Yorker (okay, sure, maybe) and she’s about to go on a romantic getaway with her fiancé Victor (Gael Bernal) who is a self-absorbed chef and only sees Italy for the food and wine (not that there’s anything wrong with that.) When Victor goes off on a “Truffle” expedition, she takes to the town and happens upon a wall where women write their letters of sorrow to Romeo’s Juliet. Neatly tucking them into a stone wall, they expect a reply from a local group of women called “The Secretaries of Juliet.” But when one letter is found misplaced from many years ago behind a stone, Sophie sets out to make her quest to reunion the two long lost lovers fifty years later. And so the story goes when Claire (Vanessa Redgrave) shows up with her snooty British grandson, Charlie (Christopher Egan) who can’t imagine that the girl who answered Grandma Claire is a spoiled American – Sophie – capable of using the words “Awesome” and “omigod” in one sentence. He’s from Oxford you see, and his and Sophie’s own love story is about to parallel grandma’s long lost one. Whether Grandma Claire finds her “Lorenzo” or not is irrelevant. It’s the journey and the message of never letting the love of your life get away. The movie is reminiscent of an old favorite Only You where Marisa Tomei is in search of her “Damon Bradley”… Robert Downey Jr. The young British actor Christopher Egan is charming, likable and flirtatious (excellent writing for their banter) but his chemistry is only luke warm with Seyfried. It seems to work mainly because of her blue bug-eyed stares. Instead this is truly Redgrave’s film about love and loss. She shines with elegance and compassion, and a lot of passion. If your allergies are upon you this May weekend, this is a great way to flush out the red eyes. Bring a box of tissues. It’s really that delightful of a chick flick. Sorry guys. Three and a half tiaras
