Quality mushy romance.


8 out of 5.

I'm going to admit, it wasn't horrible. I certainly "enjoyed" it a lot more than I thought I would. It does all the things a romantic comedy should do and it does them decently.

That saying, is it a film I would ever watch again willingly? No. And that's why I can't give it a full recommendation. It's not as enjoyable as something like It's Complicated (which itself was barely good enough because it was too long), and it's certainly not in the same league as something like When Harry Met Sally.

But guys, will you want to pluck your eyes out or take a shotgun blast to the face just to escape from the horror, if someone drags you along? No. And certainly anyone who is a fan of the genre should enjoy it, especially compared to the most recent "romantic comedies" that have come out recently.

It's faint praise, but that's certainly better than what I was anticipating.

**½

I've heard they handle Gael García Bernal's character well, i.e. he's never revealed to be an egregious cheater or liar and he and Seyfried end their relationship in a mature, melancholy way after she falls for the blond Brit.

I must admit, Bernal's involvement intrigues me in general. He's one of my favorite actors.

Yeah, they do. The way the relationship ended was nice. I hate how petty people can be when they break up. Why does it always have to be messy? Can't two people just mutually end things because they both realize it's not working? It was refreshing to see a mature break-up on-screen.


I saw IGBY when it first came out on DVD. I gave it a B.


LETTERS TO JULIET - 8/10 (B+)

A very enjoyable film. Seyfried and Redgrave are really good and I loved the location. It's pure fluff, but incredibly enjoyable fluff. Nice escapist entertainment.

Charismatic lead, some funny humour, beautiful locale, but still manages to be predictable and lame in it's storyline.

B-

Letters to Juliet is a unique spin on the romance genre as it is a quest to find love rather then the up and downs of it. Amanda Seyfried and Vanessa Redgrave have great chemistry together and the love journey never really drags and has its notable laughs at times. The Italy scenery is beautiful to look at and adds to the joy of the journey. One of the film's downsides though is the story between Seyfried and Christopher Egan is all too typical of romance movies and definitely hurts the film at times. While the film is never completely groundbreaking though, Letters to Juliet is sure to leave some smiles afterwards. **1/2

C+


Amanda Seyfried needs better roles. After Dear John, this was another Seyfried role last year which demanded almost nothing from her. She needs to do more stuff like Chloe in which he has shown some great dramatic potential (and T&A!)

In this, she is mostly sleepwalking through the role. There's absolutely no chemistry in this film between her and Christopher Egan who is in contention for the blandest and dullest love interest of 2010. It's Vanessa Redgrave and Gael García Bernal (in his brief role) who provide the film's acting highlights. One of the few scenes I really liked was the break-up between Seyfried's and Bernal's characters which was handled in a more genuine and touching way than most break-ups are in films like this.

Overall, however, this a romantic dramedy that very rarely rises above the average and mostly shines thanks to its wonderful scenery.