Letters To Juliet

Rating: PG

Movie Release Date: May 13, 2010 (Australia) / May 14, 2010 (USA)

DVD Release Date: TBD

Plot 411: On a pre-wedding trip to Italy, Sophie discovers a 50-year-old letter to Juliet and replies to the author.

Review: Sophie (Amanda Seyfried) and her fiance Victor (Gael Garcia Bernal) take a vacation to Verona in place of a formal honeymoon because of Victor's upcoming restaurant opening. However, once in Italy, Victor spends most of his time meeting with vendors rather than with Sophie. While sightseeing on her own Sophie finds the famous home of Juliet Capulet, which has turned into a shrine for women who are having problems in love. While writing her own letter, Sophie witnesses a woman pulling off all the letters. She follows the woman and learns that four women serve as Juliet's secretaries. As she assists them the following day, Sophie uncovers a 50-year-old letter that has gone unanswered. She writes to Claire (Vanessa Redgrave) and a few days later is traveling with Claire and her grandson Charlie (Christopher Egan) to find Claire's Italian lost love. The amazing Italian countryside of Sienna was a picture-perfect sight and its sun-drenched vineyards were amazing. The idea of a woman returning to the place of her youth to find and reconnect with a 50-year-old lost love is indeniably romantic. Seyfried is cute (her enormous blue eyes didn't seem as enormously distracting as they were in other films) and likable as Sophie (yes, it's the same character name she had in Mamma Mia!), but somehow this movie didn't live up to all the hype. Bernal and Egan were somewhat unlikeable in their own ways. While I thought the Claire storyline was moving, the Sophie/Victor/Charlie plotline seemed forced. The Charlie character's arc is definitely more like a spike with no warning or any indication of his motive for change. Everything was just too predictable, and what's worse is that the trailer reveals the entire movie.

Watch It: If you're a romantic at heart.

Skip It: If you've already watched the trailer. There's no need to spend your $10 after that.

Evening

Rating: PG-13

Movie Release Date: June 29, 2007

DVD Release Date: September 25, 2007

Plot 411: A woman on her death bed remembers her life and the choices she made in it.

Review: Whoa, this movie was really heavy and covered all kinds of themes. I wasn't really prepared for it when I popped it in yet soon found myself totally engrossed in it. The film was about a woman named Ann - as an old woman on her death bed and a young woman at the start of her life. Through memories and flashbacks, the audience sees different aspects of her life and the choices she made. Some of those choices were made methodically. Other choices were left up to chance. The movie dealt with first loves, lost loves and one true love. It reflected upon aging, family and mother-daughter relationships. It covered parenting and the fears parents have about messing up their kids' lives. It talked about the mystery of life and how we are shown a path that we either take or don't. It depicted the societal pressures of the rich and the ways in which children who are born into that environment deal with their struggles. There were so many life lessons to be told in this film and the cast was really awesome. Young Ann is played by Claire Danes, who I think did a pretty good job. The older Ann was played by Vanessa Redgrave, who put in an awesome performance. Ann's grown children were played by Toni Collette and Natasha Richardson (Redgrave's real daughter). Ann's best friend Lila was played by Mamie Gummer and Meryl Streep, who are real life mother and daughter. Glenn Close, Hugh Dancy and Patrick Wilson also play prominent roles.

Watch It: If you're ready for a quietly powerful character drama about life and th outcome of your choices. It'll make you look at your life a little more intently.

Skip It: If you've got a big day ahead of you that wouldn't do well with puffy eyes.