Letters to Juliet (2010, U.S.)

I thought that this movie looked really cute, and I like Amanda Seyfried quite a bit. Needless to say, I was quite disappointed.

The whole thing felt way too contrived, with stilted dialogue that almost bordered on wooden at times (and had a false ring a majority of the time). Overall, the writing was terrible. Aside from the dialogue problems, a lot of the plot was just too much of a stretch when it could have been much smoother. Parts were too easy, convenient, and basically unrealistic. I think "oversimplified" is the best word I can come up with.

The actors weren't bad. Seyfriend wasn't her best, but still cute. Her fiance was a Mexican actor playing a goofy maybe-Italian, which was a very strange choice. They do get extra points for casting Vanessa Redgrave, who is an absolute film goddess. I did like the male lead, who had very good comedic timing. He had a very strong (and to my untrained ear, accurate) British accent, but every now and then it went a little weird—turns out he's Australian. He also had something in his face (though not his acting) that reminded me of Heath Ledger, which was odd.

Anyway, this was a sweet concept that was terribly executed. Very unfortunate.

Rating: 2.0