The movie: Letters to Juliet

Reel Thing Rating: 3 out of 5 Reels
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We are still feeling stuffed after this corn and cheese fest.

Sophie and Charlie meet in the beautiful city of Verona, Italy, where she is on a pre-wedding vacation with her fiance, Victor, a chef. Out sightseeing one day, Sophie stumbles upon the writers of The Juliet Club, an ancient organization that replies to letters from the lovelorn of the world. A few days later she discovers a letter that was left there 50 years ago, hidden behind a stone in the wall. Intrigued she decides to reply, and in doing so she meets not only the writer but her handsome grandson as well.  She asks Charlie’s grandmother, Claire, if she may accompany them on a journey through the region to find Claire’s lost love, and over the course of the week Sophie and Charlie fall for each other.

Analyzing this couple…yeah, not simple, since the story bears no resemblance to anything that could conceivably be called “reality.” Not that we’re unwilling to suspend disbelief in the name of romance. We totally are! But the over-the-top goop is pretty out of control here. We actually turned to each other and groaned out loud during the big declaration scene when Sophie suddenly appears on a balcony for no discernible reason other than, hey, you know, the Juliet thing, and Charlie climbs the conveniently located vine to give her a kiss. It was probably supposed to make us go “aww!” but all it inspired was some serious eye-rolling and the urge to yell at the screen: “Things didn’t actually work out that well for Romeo and Juliet, you know!”

While we don’t see a double suicide in this couple’s future, we can’t see anything that screams long-term success either. Sophie and Charlie are two gorgeous young people that spend a week driving through a gorgeous old country, drinking local wine and eating incredible food – how could anyone not be swept away under these circumstances?  But once we stripped out the spectacular scenery and the likely ever-present grape-induced buzz, we’re not sure if we’re left with much else.  The truth is they barely know each other. There is definite physical chemistry, and both have a sarcastic edge to them and banter well together.  Charlie is clearly taken by the sight of Sophie’s sweet, wise, wistful smile, viewed (repeatedly) through the rearview mirror.  Both have the pain of lost parents.  But is that sufficient to sustain a marriage, parenthood, careers, bills, aging, illness – ie all the things that come along with a lifelong relationship?

We agree that Victor is probably not the right person for Sophie either; his enthusiasm for life, while charming, seems a bit forced, and we can see him getting sulky when things don’t go his way.  It’s easy to see Charlie as a hero in comparison.  But.  She is leaving Victor because of his selfishness and self-absorption for man she barely knows. How does she know things with Charlie will be any better?  The truth is she doesn’t – a week is not enough time to provide a proper test of their reactions to anything other than a hangover.

We also can’t help wondering if part of the appeal for the motherless Sophie is Charlie’s grandmother, whom she obviously adores.

We can definitely understand them falling for each other, but we’d need to see more of them together to know if this is a love story for the ages or a tragedy (in divorce court) waiting to happen. 

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