The action actually begins in Verona, where Shakespeare's young heroine once stood looking down at her Romeo. While on vacation with fiancé Victor, Sophie  lingers beneath Juliet's balcony, where women tuck love letters into the ancient wall. Sensing a story that might elevate her from fact-checker to writer at The New Yorker, Sophie volunteers to help collect these notes, only to find one from decades earlier. The author was Claire who fell in love with Lorenzo as a teenager. When Sophie sends her the faded letter, Claire returns to Italy, looking for her lost love. Sophie joins Claire on the search for renewed romance.........

'Letters To Juliet': A Romantic Comedy to Write Home About 
Genres: Drama, Romance Running Time: 105 min MPAA rating: PG  Release Date: May 14, 2010 
NY Daily News;  By Elizabeth Weitzman; May 13, 2010

Though you?d never know it from recent examples, a decent romantic comedy should be easy to find. After all, what do we really need? Likable leads, a beautiful setting and a script that follows a reliable formula without feeling overly formulaic. Case in point: Gary Winick's "Letters to Juliet," a $12 trip to Tuscany that's cheerfully undemanding, but doesn't insult our intelligence.
The action actually begins in Verona, where Shakespeare's young heroine once stood looking down at her Romeo. While on vacation with fiancé Victor (Gael García Bernal), Sophie (Amanda Seyfried) lingers beneath Juliet's balcony, where women tuck love letters into the ancient wall. Sensing a story that might elevate her from fact-checker to writer at The New Yorker, Sophie volunteers to help collect these notes, only to find one from decades earlier.
The author was Claire (Vanessa Redgrave), who fell in love with Lorenzo (Redgrave's real-life husband, Franco Nero) as a teenager. When Sophie sends her the faded letter, Claire returns to Italy, looking for her lost love. With Victor eternally preoccupied by business, Sophie joins Claire and her skeptical grandson, Charlie (Christopher Egan), on the search for renewed romance.
Winick, who has had his highs ("13 Going on 30") and lows ("Bride Wars"), makes the most of his well-matched leading ladies. Redgrave brings a lovely gravity to the lightweight proceedings, while Seyfried again proves an unusually levelheaded presence. Aside from the goofy ending, there are no silly pratfalls or fumbling misunderstandings - just several adults connecting to each other and the beguiling setting. It's a refreshingly sensible approach that should appeal to fans of both actresses. (If you ever wanted to plan a double date with your grandmother, now's the time.)
The weakest link is Egan, his blandly stuffy Brit a regrettable contrast to the distracted but appealing Victor. It's hard to complain about two hours in Italy, especially with Redgrave as our tour guide. But Bernal's irrepressible charm provides a bust of welcome energy with each brief appearance. And when he steps aside so our star-crossed lovers can meet their destiny, parting is sweet sorrow, indeed.

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