While there are many wonderful movies out right now, I implore you to take a look back to 2010 and consider watching Letters to Juliet, a wonderful movie about romance and adventure. While this movie came out 13 years ago, it is still very relevant and worth the watch.

This movie is a touching story of adventure, rekindling old love, and finding new people in your life to love. I have watched this movie many times and it never gets old. If you are a sucker for a cute romance movie with some adventure this movie is perfect for you. 

Letters to Juliet was actually filmed in Verona where it is set. The cinematography and soundtrack, featuring many Italian songs, really tie the movie together. Also, the song ‘Love Story’ by Taylor Swift is a part of the soundtrack, which is very fitting since this song is inspired by Romeo and Juliet. One of the lines of the chorus is, “‘cause you were Romeo, I was a scarlet letter and my daddy said, ‘stay away from Juliet’”. I believe Shakespeare fans would love this movie because of all the ties to Romeo and Juliet.

Letters to Juliet is one of my personal favorites, starring Amanda Seyfried as the role of Sophie, an aspiring journalist who is stuck in the confines of her fact checking job in New York. She is engaged to Victor, played by Gael Garcia Bernal, who is an Italian chef about to open his own restaurant. The two of them set out on a pre-wedding vacation to Italy and Sophie is hoping for a romantic getaway before they tie the knot, but when they arrive their pre-honeymoon is not what she expected it to be.

As a result of her absent fiancé, Sophie sets out on her own and travels to Verona, the city in which Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet was set. There, she stumbles upon this group of women called “Juliet’s Secretaries”. Women from around the world come to Verona and write letters to the fictional Juliet Capulet about troubles with love and romance, and these women respond to all of the letters as Juliet gives advice. 

This movie is based on reality, “Juliet’s Secretaries” is an actual group of women. Sophie is fascinated by what these women do, and the secretaries let her join in and write with them. The next day, Sophie is collecting letters and hidden deep in the cracks of a wall is a letter from 1957 that was never responded to. 

The letter was written by an English girl named Claire, played by Vanessa Redgrave, who was visiting Italy and had fallen in love with an Italian boy named Lorenzo. They were going to get married but Claire had doubts and left. She writes in her letter about her regrets of leaving Lorenzo behind, and Sophie feels like she must write back. 

Sophie’s letter inspired Claire to have hope, and she comes to Italy with her grandson, played by Christopher Egan, to go on a quest across the country to find Lorenzo. There are many ups and downs, and the possibility that Lorenzo is either dead or will not remember Claire looms over them.

Letters to Juliet is available on many streaming platforms, including HBO Max and Amazon Prime Video, and is rated PG. I highly recommend this movie, it is one of my favorites. While there are many good movies out right now, I encourage you to take some time out of your day to explore this movie.

Photo Source: HBO Max