We missed the opera Friday due to my back issues. It makes me doubly happy that we have rush tickets for the theater. If you or someone you love have chronic health conditions, rush tickets can be the difference between being able to get out and soak in a little culture and missing it entirely. With rush tickets, you can go to any night of the theater and all you need to do by way of pre-planning is show up about an hour (sometimes less) before curtain. For me, it's impossible to predict how I'm going to feel on say, June 16th at 7:00 PM. But I can tell you at 5:00 PM if I'm well enough to go out at 6:00.
Since we lost our one shot at the opera, we made up for it on Saturday with a movie. I have been wanting to see Letters to Juliet
since the previews came out and it did not disappoint. Here's the blurb:
since the previews came out and it did not disappoint. Here's the blurb:Letters To Juliet is an enchanting love story -- a tale of encountering new sparks and rekindling old flames. When Sophie (Amanda Seyfried), a young American, travels to Verona, Italy -- the romantic city where Romeo first met Juliet -- she meets a group of volunteers who respond to letters written to Juliet seeking romantic advice. Sophie finds and answers a letter that has been lost for 50 years, and is stunned when its author Claire (Vanessa Redgrave) arrives in Italy with her handsome but overprotective grandson (Christopher Egan) to find the fiance she left decades before. Fascinated by Claire's quest, Sophie joins them on an adventure through the beautiful hills of Tuscany searching for Claire's long lost Lorenzo. The journey will change their lives forever, as they discover it's never too late to find true love.
My thoughts:
Yes, it's a romance so you can predict who will end up with whom. I think even the paragraph above implies as much.
But unlike some romances, each character was drawn so vividly, the location was breathtaking and the acting was superb. I wanted Claire to find her Lorenzo after fifty years apart. I wanted Sophie to have Claire in her life more permanently and to realize her guy wasn't the man she deserved.
Victor (Claire's fiance) was well written to a point. I like that he didn't have to be "bad" for you to see he wasn't for her. He didn't have as much range as I would have liked but frankly, how many guys in their 20s have range? Or girls for that matter? I also thought his last scenes were a little too convenient but that too fit with his character.
I've always wondered who goes to a foreign country, meets fascinating, kind, welcoming people and then heads off adventuring with them. Anyone have this happen in real life? I'd love to hear about it.
This would be a great movie to see with your sisters, mom, girl friends... my DH loved it too, but he likes romances and Rom-Coms.
Now I must go, learn to speak Italian and move to Verona. Ciao!
Rating: PG
Stars: 9/10 stars for me 8/10 for Chris
Objectionable content: None really. The betrothed couple share a hotel room but nothing is implied. I think someone may have said "crap" ... it's pretty clean and kid safe if they like romance movies.
Overall Opinion: Absolutely worth the two hours and price of popcorn. I laughed, cried and smiled my way through the whole movie. Didn't notice any dull spots and wanted to spend a lot more time in their world. Incredibly well done.
9 comments:
"I've always wondered who goes to a foreign country, meets fascinating, kind, welcoming people and then heads off adventuring with them. Anyone have this happen in real life? I'd love to hear about it."
When I was in college, I spent a semester in Vienna. My group flew into London and spent a few days before heading eastward. We met a friendly American girl who had been living there for a few years. She invited several of us to come back and visit Scotland with her when we got the chance. I was the only one who took her up on this. She proved to be a somewhat frustrating travel partner, but it was still a fantastic adventure and my favorite part of the whole semester!
Hey Nicole! Congrats on winning the silhouette you lucky girl I am jealous! And thanks so much for the Trendy Blog Award. I haven't forgotten to pass it on, I promise, I plan to soon! And just posted your cute wreath on my blog!!
I went to see it with my 15yo the other night. We liked it too even if it was predictable.
How fun, sounds like an entertaining movie!
Hey, girl. Thanks so much for your sweet comment on my blog.
Oooh, have been wanting to watch this. Thanks so much for sharing your review of it. Sadly, I think I missed my chance as it doesn't seem to be in the movie houses here anymore. It's all Iron Man 2 over here.
Sorry to hear you missed the opera. What were you planning to watch?
My scrapbooking buddies and I were just talking about this the other day. My dream is still to watch "Phantom" since I've known the songs even in high school.
Hope you're doing better, girl. Miss you.
*hugs*
Thanks for the review. We are planning on seeing it this weekend I think.
I would like to learn Italian and move to Italy. It is a fascinating place to visit.
I just started reading Bella Tuscany, the second book by Frances Mayes (Under the Tuscan Sun) about her continued life in Italy. So good. Makes me want to go back and visit again.
Hey Nicole! Sorry to have dropped out of on-line life there for a while. Socks are done, but my computer crashed, and I don't have your address. Can you send it to me, and I'll get them in the mail pretty much instantly.
The movie sounds nice, I may have to sneak out sometime, since I'm the only one in my house that goes for this sort of movie.
Great review, I have put it on my DVD list for when it gets released and I will get it!
I lived in Grand Cayman for 4 years in my 20's, I got made redundant and it was the first time I had enough money to travel, so I did. I had some amazing adventures with people that I met over there including a trip round parts of Central America! When you are travelling you have to be brave about talking to strangers, I got better at it, but I'm shy, and it wasn't until my sister decided to move to GC as well that I really started to meet lots of people!! It was such a fun time though with loads of new friends and experiences.
I'm glad to know someone liked it and had a good review of it because I was debating whether to go or not, so this helped!
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