Letters to Juliet

Sophie is an aspiring writer engaged to workaholic restaurateur Victor. They take a vacation to Italy, but Victor is so busy acquainting himself with cuisine that Sophie finds herself being neglected. She happens upon the Wall of Juliet (of Romeo and… fame), where women leave letters about their romantic concerns. Sophie learns that there are “Secretaries of Juliet” who take the letters and answer them, and since she’s bored (and an aspiring writer), she offers to help.

While pulling letters off the wall, Sophie dislodges a brick and discovers a 50-year-old missive from a British teen-ager named Claire, who’d written to Juliet of her decision to not run away with a boy named Lorenzo. Sophie writes Claire an encouraging reply about the timelessness of love, hoping that the woman hasn’t changed addresses in the past half century.

Imagine Sophie’s surprise when the now elderly Claire shows up. Apparently, she didn’t move after all. She’s decided to take a second shot at love and try to hunt down Lorenzo. Claire is certain that Lorenzo remained in the area; even so, there are dozens of men with his first and last name to wade through. So Sophie, Claire, and Claire’s handsome but snotty grandson, Charlie, take to the Italian countryside in search of the right Lorenzo. —DVDverdict