Letters To Juliet Review

Mamma Mia! here we go again... In seemingly trying to recreate the success of Phyllida Lloyd’s mega-smash 2008 hit, Gary Winick (Bride Wars) has taken several of the earlier film’s elements — stunning locales (this time Italy), winsome leading lady Amanda Seyfried coupled with an acting legend (here Vanessa Redgrave) — but crucially missed out two: ABBA and songs. With time on her hands on holiday, aspiring journalist Sophie (Seyfried) becomes a ‘secretary’ of Juliet, one of a group of women who answer letters of the lovelorn, pinned to what is taken to be Juliet Capulet’s home in Verona. It’s a poignant idea, ill-served by a plot involving Redgrave’s Claire — attended by her imperious prig of a grandson, Charlie (Home And Away’s Christopher Egan) — in search of her lost love. As Charlie comes to the fore, so the film unravels in a dispiriting morass of clichés and cringy lines.