Sunday, June 20, 2010

Letters to Juliet: Not one for the Boys... or the Lactose Intolerant




Well, it's been a while, and I'm slightly rusty, but lets give this a bash, shall we?

Friday night meant a welcome return to the cinema after a week and a half of torture, and there's still one exam to go.

:(

I just wanted to watch something that I wouldn't have to think about....at all.

Letters to Juliet fit the bill.



Basically, the story revolves around Sophie (played by Amanda Seyfried --who seems to have an affinity for films featuring Letters), a fact checker for The New Yorker and an aspiring writer. She is currently engaged to *cough* a complete douche *cough cough* Chef named Victor, played by Gael Garcia Bernal, who takes a step away from playing Che Geuvara, as he is most well known for, to play an absolute and utter.....sorry, he just really teed me off.

Anyway, as a pre-Honeymoon Honeymoon, they go to Verona, the city of love. He spends all his time pretty much climaxing over cheese and she meets the Secretaries of Juliet. In Verona, there is a wall at juliets castle, where women send letters to the proatgonist of Shakespeare's tragic play. These women pose as Juliet and answer any and all problems posted on the wall. It's a nice idea, I suppose...

--There stands my first problem: Romeo and Juliet is not a love story. It's the tale of two infatuated morons; one horny, stupid girl and one even stupider fickle boy. I rant about this play all the time, so I'm not going to rehash the details now. I'm just a cynic, and leave it at that.--



Anywho, Sophie finds a letter hidden in the wall, that was written by a woman called Clare 50 years beforehand, and decides to write a response telling her to fight for her love, Lorenzo.

Thus bringing the highlight of the film, Charlie, into action.

Charlie accompanies his Grandmother to Verona, and confronts Sophie about the letter. After a brief argument and an even briefer encounter, Sophie decides to accompany them on their hunt for Lorenzo, and to write the story in the process.

Charlie reminds me of Sebastian in Cruel Intentions, in the way that he can be a complete and utter prick, but I still absolutely love him.

In fairness, any man who can openly and honestly find fault in Romeo and Juliet, and use crushing Sarcasm in the process wins a place in my heart.

The fact that he doesn't look like he was hit by the back end of double-decker bus also helps.

Now, lets get down to the nitty-gritty.

So what about the film?

Well, to put it simply, it's just....nice.

It's your typical formulaic fluff that's not too taxing on the brain. There aren't that many laughs throughout, as the film focuses more on the romantic element in this rom-com, but it is none the less enjoyable. It's corny, but it's hard for a film in this genre not to be layered in smatterings of cheese.

and sometimes, a cheesy film is just what the doctor ordered. Good, old-fashioned, unaldulterated cheese. :D

Seyfried and Christopher Egan (the aforementioned Charlie) have pretty decent chemistry, and you really do root for them....even though you're not sure why.


Anyway, Ladies, if you're a fan of a Walk to Remember, The Notebook, or just a bit of Romance, I'd give it a go.

If only for Charlie! ;)




Lads, give it a miss. Although, to be honest, There isn't much for you guys out there at the moment....Maybe Get him to the Greek? Toy Story 3 also rocks socks.

Anyway, it's a sunny day, and I'm procrastinating, so I just thought I'd make my blog a little less bare! :D
Updates will swarm soon enough.

XOXO.