The Love Letter

Starring:Campbell Scott, Jennifer Jason Leigh, David Dukes, Estelle Parsons, Daphne Ashbrook, Myra Carter, Gerrit Graham, Irma P. Hall, Richard Woods, Kali Rocha, Laurie Kennedy, Edgar Smith (II), Cara Stoner, George Gaffney, Tom Riis Farrell, Mark Joy, Linda Powell, Sam Wells, Michael Ruff, David Foster (VIII)
Director: Dan Curtis
Studio: Hallmark
Product Type: DVD

Amazon.com

This sumptuous and moving 1994 film written and directed by Bernard Rose (Candyman) investigates the artistic and romantic passions of one of the greatest composers of all time. Featuring a superb performance by Gary Oldman (Sid and Nancy) as Ludwig van Beethoven, Immortal Beloved is full of uncommonly vivid, rich imagery as it charts the tumultuous life of the deaf child prodigy and his rise to the height of musical achievement. Along the way, he attempts to play mentor to his nephew, attend to his many passionate romances--the most stable one was with a countess (Isabella Rossellini)--and fight bouts of depression and madness that ruled his life and his art. The film is framed around a "Rosebud"-type letter found after the composer's death that makes up the crux of the story. Jeroen Krabbé (The Fugitive), playing Beethoven's lifelong friend, attempts to discover who Beethoven's muse really was, becoming as driven as his friend in discovering the unlikely identity of the composer's "immortal beloved." Through this we gain an insight into the nature of obsession, romance, and the heights and sacrifices of artistic achievement. The film exhibits some extraordinary sound design, and the finale features a magical encapsulation of Beethoven's life and loves set to his "Ode to Joy." As an exciting and passionate journey, Immortal Beloved is its own masterpiece. --Robert Lane

Customer Reviews:

Beethoven's Immortal Beloved.......2007-06-15

This take on Beethoven's love life may elicit giggles or outrage from scholars of this composer, but it made for a great movie! The characterization of Beethoven himself seemed rather extreme at times, but it made a valid point. I especially enjoyed the almost constant background music from the composer's great works, and the portrayal of life in general during this time was very vivid.

While it says nothing about the real life of Beethoven, the movie is a pleasant romance.......2007-06-05

While I admire Gary Oldman's acting abilities and some of his achievements in this film, the film itself has so many flaws that it is hard to forgive. It is vital to note right from the start that the story of this film has almost nothing to do with the life of the actual Ludwig van Beethoven. Oh, you could point to this or that biographical detail and claim that such an event occurred, but the movie wrenches everything so far out of context in the service of a fictitious romance that even the truths become false.

Since this movie is a romance, I think it would have been better if they had made up a name for the name Adrian Leverkuehn for Arnold Schoenberg in Doctor Faustus. Even this wasn't enough because in later editions Mann had to put in a disclaimer that Schoenberg had actually invented the twelve tone compositional technique and that Leverkuehn is fictional. We get no such disclaimers in this film and the violence done the actual Beethoven is far greater. I suppose if they had made up the name of a composer then they couldn't have used the true star of this film, the excerpts of Beethoven's music forming the soundtrack. The recording of this soundtrack was a pretty good seller back in 1994.

The funeral scene is pretty good. It was a mob and an even bigger event than shown in the film. I also like the way Beethoven's deafness was shown at times. However, in the periods shown in the film, his deafness was not as complete as it was later. His social awkwardness was not as deranged as it is shown in the film. Since we lack any sense of the social order of Beethoven's time, I suppose the filmmakers felt that the character had to be shocking for our time, hence the storming man in need of medication sadly unavailable in his time. No, Beethoven was shocking because he simply claimed priority for himself through his art.

But the whole premise of the film is foolish. There is a letter to an "Immortal Beloved" whose identity has been sought out since Beethoven's time, but Maynard Solomon made a very good case for Antonie Brentano back in 1972. And this woman isn't even in this film! The only reason people debate this issue is because people tend to like unsolved mysteries and romances. However, there are facts that point to Brentano and away from every other proposed candidate. And even the phrase "Immortal Beloved" might not be anything more than a clumsy man trying to say something romantic rather than something summing up his life's love.

While the scene is totally made up, I did find the scene of Oldman leaning close to the piano to play the "Moonlight Sontata" a nice effect. The scene of Beethoven stumbling through the "Emperor Concerto" never happened. Beethoven's hearing was bad enough that he knew better than to play in public by 1811. The first performer of the work was Friedrich Schneider, a local church organist in Leipzig. The Vienna premier in February 1812 was Carl Czerny, a Beethoven pupil and later a great piano teacher as well as performer.

Anyway, if you enjoy the film, fine. Just don't mistake ANYTHING in it as pertaining to the life of the real Beethoven. Especially NOT the identity the movie supposes for the "Immortal Beloved". Suspect every detail in the film because even events which have some connection to history are completely out of context. Oh, and there are a couple scenes of gratuitous partial nudity to make it seem more romantic, I guess. Just enjoy the movie as a romance and don't suppose you have learned anything about Beethoven and you will be OK. If it inspires you to go read about the actual life of Beethoven and his music, all the better.

Es müß sein........2007-05-29

One longs for a movie that treats a great artist's life as something other than the ravings of a madman.

While the wait carries on, however, IMMORTAL BELOVED is delicious entertainment. The mysterious woman of Ludwig von Beethoven's scrawled final testament turns out to be his sister-in-law, the widow of a brother killed by consumption, and--in the end--the mother of the nephew Beethoven snatched from her. The boy himself was an unfortunate soul who in the end turns out to have been flesh of Ludwig's flesh.

If this sounds a bit like supermarket tabloid stuff, well, the difference lies in that Ludwig von Beethoven was no momentary celebrity whose life will flare out after its requisite fifteen minutes of fame. On the contrary, Beethoven was one of the West's and indeed humanity's great artistic geniuses. A conspiracy tale wraps so much more satisfyingly around a life like his. This is especially so when the story is accompanied by the man's own music, played with ominous solemnity the London Symphony Orchestra under Sir George Solti's baton.

I somehow missed this film when it was released in 1994. Other things were going on. A Memorial Day weekend spent with the DVD is a pleasure that more than requites the wait. Jeroen Krabbé's performance as Friend-of-Ludwig Anton Schindler deserves at least the merit that Gary Oldman as Beethoven and Isabella Rosselini earned for their arguably lesser performances.

Krabbé becomes the film's dramatic center as he vollies between historical personages in an attempt to piece together the contours of Beethoven's loves. His stolid weightiness makes him perfect for such an anchoring role.

The filming (Chekoslovakia) is gorgeous and there is, always, the music.

IMMORTAL BELOVED turns Beethoven's life and death into a tragedy. Although the historicity that makes this artistic decision plausible is debatable, it is arguable that only a man well acquainted with the tragic could have written such enduring, powerful, seductive music.

Vielleicht, dann, es mußte sein.

Enchanting.......2007-05-25

I won't waste your tim with a long or droll review. I will simply say the New York Times is pretentious and overrated. Though it has been a couple years since I saw this movie, I rented it time and again and continued to enjoy it every single time. I am now buying for my husband, who enjoyed it even more so. Though I'm sure it was a dramatic view of the composer's life, it was positively wonderful. It wasn't just simply entertaining, it was enchanting.

Super Seller.......2007-05-14

Great quality and wonderful DVD - fast shipping and super seller = great transaction!

Average customer rating:

Excellent and beautiful
""We All Have Our Wounds" ~ A Romantic Film For The Ages
Depardieu and Brochet are the ultimate Cyrano and Roxane.This is Jean-Paul Rappeneau's masterpiece.
Great play, miscast Cyrano and a dull, flat English translation
A classic

Cyrano de Bergerac
Starring: Gérard Depardieu , Anne Brochet , Vincent Perez , Jacques Weber , and Roland Bertin
Director: Jean-Paul Rappeneau
Manufacturer: MGM (Video & DVD)
ProductGroup: DVD
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Roxanne

ASIN: B0000YEENU
Release Date: 2004-02-10

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Director Jean-Paul Rappeneau and cowriter Jean-Claude Carriere had the brilliant idea of casting France's most lovably vulnerable hunk, the massive Gerard Depardieu, in one of French literature's meatiest roles: the sword-wielding poet Cyrano. Equipped with a massive nose and a heart to match, Depardieu soars as the heart-broken soldier who must lend his words of love to another man to woo the woman he yearns for. Rappeneau spared no expense in taking this Edmond Rostand play into realistic locations for the battle scenes in the second act, making the film as exciting as it is romantic and funny. Depardieu attacks the role in great gulps, consuming all the oxygen in any room he enters. Macho but sensitive, he creates a larger-than-life Cyrano, whose wrenching sadness at the lack of interest from his lady love will have you reaching for the tissues. --Marshall Fine

Description

One of France's literary treasures commands the screen with this "exceptionally graceful adaptation" (Los Angeles Times) that received a Best Foreign Film Golden GlobeÂ(r) and five OscarÂ(r) nominations*, including Best Actor for Gerard Depardieu! Cyrano (Depardieu), a master swordsman and poet, feels he cannot woo his beloved Roxane (Anne Brochet) due to an unfortunate physical flaw: his grotesquely large nose. Resigning himself to helping another suitor, the dashing yet tongue-tied Christian (Vincent Perez), Cyrano uses his mastery of words to win Roxane forhim. But when Roxane finds that she has fallen for Christian's mindand not for his beautywhich of her two suitors will finally possess her heart? *1990: Foreign Language Film, Art Direction-Set Decoration, Costume Design (won), Makeup

Customer Reviews:

Excellent and beautiful.......2007-06-04

I take Cyrano seriously. For me, Rostand's play, as known to me through Brian Hooker's translation and Jose Ferrer's performance, is a force that has never ceased to inspire, sustain and enrich my life since I first came across it in high school. I show no patience for translations or productions that fail (as I see it) to convey the poetry and grandeur of both the language and the characters. Having said that, I thought this French production of Cyrano was magnificent and will be seen as the definitive modern version for many years to come.

As opposed to the 1950 Jose Ferrer classic, whose sets were rather bare, and whose supporting cast was somewhat cartoonish (which still doesn't detract from Ferrer's tour de force), this production achieves both realism and romance in its beautifully lavish and detailed sets and costumes, not to mention its expertly chosen cast. At all times, you are made to feel as if you were really there, watching real people converse in 17th century France (although I realize that real people don't speak in rhyming couplets), but at other times, such as with the balcony scene, you are transported into a dream or a poem, which is right and proper for this play. I had doubts about Depardieu, but I was able to see him as Cyrano, at least physically. However, he struck me as somewhat too blustering and not as refined as I would expect the character to be (Ferrer was much cooler and nobler, in my view), but I suppose Depardieu knows more about French panache than I do. Unfortunately, the English subtitles employ the execrable Anthony Burgess translation, but that won't be too much of an annoyance to anyone who already has the lines of Hooker rolling around in their head. This is a great movie which should be treasured by any fan of Cyrano, although I would recommend that newcomers should see the Ferrer version first.

""We All Have Our Wounds" ~ A Romantic Film For The Ages.......2007-06-03

Note: French with optional English and Spanish subtitles.

This French language film adaptation of the classic 'Cyrano de Bergerac' released in '90 is without question the most enjoyable 138 minutes in front of the television screen I've experienced in quite some time. Everything about this production is absolute perfection; cinematography, settings, music, screenplay and of course acting.

Gerard Depardieu is an unstoppable force of nature as the eloquent but hot-headed Cyrano. He thunders and rages about one moment only to suddenly turn ethereal and wax poetic the next. The lovely Anne Brochet is a wonderful compliment to the blustering Cyrano as his unattainable Roxane and Vincent Perez delivers a strong performance as the handsome but slow tongued Christian.

The dialogue is crisp, textured and witty, however if you're French impaired as I am you'll probably have trouble keeping up with the subtitles. But that's OK, you'll just catch the missing parts the next time you watch and you will definitely watch again and again.

Depardieu and Brochet are the ultimate Cyrano and Roxane.This is Jean-Paul Rappeneau's masterpiece........2007-05-11

How sad that a person can forego the deepest and best that life has to offer because they feel that their "ugliness" cannot outshine their inner beauty?
Such is the well known CYRANO de BERGERAC,a man with such a large nose that this self-perceived impediment causes him to over develop his rapier wit and tenderness of soul, never being able to feel the sense that he could be loved for who and what he is.

Having seen this Rostand play done on stage, Gerard Depardieu and Anne Brochet simply light up the screen in this Jean-Paul Rappeneau directed version of the French Classic as the "deformed" Cyrano and his object of love,his cousin,Roxane.Vincent Perez,always the handsome leading man, does a marvelous comedic turn as Christien, the love-struck cadet who is a bumbler at words to whom Cyrano lends his poetic tongue to win Roxane for him.

What I find exceptional about this CYRANO is Rappeneau's tremendous attention to the smallest of detail regarding the customs and historical facts concerning the times.The story is already a winner, but Rappeneau makes this also a film that is interesting to people who love accuracy concerning history and custom.There is also a proper treatment of the comedic side of this tragedy that I find lacking in other versions.Rappeneau knows how to make us both laugh and cry in his CYRANO thus keeping a proper balance of the tender and the comedic.

Anne Brochet as Roxane is allowed to be the beauty that she is (unlike her plainess in ALL THE MORNINGS OF THE WORLD) and she is the ideal actress to bring Roxane to the big screen.She has a fragile beauty and depth rarely found!

Depardieu is, well what can one say,THE BEST.Others may disagree,but Depardieu is the first actor ever to make me love Cyrano de Bergerac.Others were okay,but Depardieu IS Cyrano.

As to format,I personally find the digital video transfer version still superior to the dvd in both picture quality and sound.The dvd is" scrunched" looking while the vhs version is not.In any format, though,this is the definitive CYRANO in my book.The english tranlation is perfectly accessible and the subtitles are very clear and not rushed.If you "parlez francais" then all the better this CYRANO.

An excellent companion film that covers the exact same time frame would be MARQUISE (French) starring Sophie Marceau.

Great play, miscast Cyrano and a dull, flat English translation.......2007-02-01

"Cyrano" is one of the greatest verse plays ever written.

Unfortunately Gerard Depardieu is no Cyrano. He's a great, clumsy side of beef, not a shining flame encased in the middleweight body of Hercule Sevanien Cyrano de Bergerac. With the best will in the world, his performance seldom achieves adequacy and never brilliance.

The English translation was especially commissioned for this film. It is undistinguished, prosy and dull. It has little of the wit and less of the poetry of the old standard translation commissioned in the 1920s by the great American actor Walter Passmore.

Get the Jose Ferrer version. This one's a dog.

A classic.......2007-01-16

In this film the story is told with the vigour and intensity it deserves. The actors performances are outstanding, so that you see and hear something new every time you watch. The music is beautiful and one can practicly feel the cool fog in the night and the morning mist, smell the delicous patisserie and sense the omnipresent powerplay between the classes.

Average customer rating:

Romantic Comedies Don't Come Much Better
Steve Martin was robbed!
Roxanne
One of the best Steve Martin films
Best bunch a guys at a firehouse comedy

Roxanne
Starring: Steve Martin , Daryl Hannah , Rick Rossovich , Shelley Duvall , and John Kapelos
Director: Fred Schepisi
Manufacturer: Sony Pictures
ProductGroup: DVD
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ASIN: 0767818105
Release Date: 2002-06-04

Amazon.com essential video

In 1987, almost a hundred years after its first production, the romantic story of Cyrano de Bergerac found new life in a winsome film written by Steve Martin. Roxanne updates the tale with a smart '80s spin, yet writer-star Martin stays close to the old-fashioned heart of the matter. He plays a small-town firefighter named C.D. Bales, whose otherwise unremarkable existence is crowned by an amazingly long nose. He falls for the world's most beautiful astronomer (Daryl Hannah), but he is embarrassed by the size of his proboscis and prefers to stay on the sidelines. Like Cyrano, the shy C.D. instead helps a handsome friend (Rick Rossovich) woo the fair lady by providing flowery sentiments and soulful poetry. Not only does the story still work, but Australian director Fred Schepisi captures a dreamy grace in his visual design for the film (some of which will be lost without the widescreen format). Set in Washington State, but filmed in the hilly ski resort of Nelson, British Columbia, the location seems like a fairy-tale town, nearly as unreal as Steve Martin's nose. --Robert Horton

Customer Reviews:

Romantic Comedies Don't Come Much Better .......2007-06-07

"Roxanne," a 1987 film written by, and starring, the comic genius Steve Martin is yet another film from the fertile 1980's that more people should be happy to know. It's based on the 100-year old French play "Cyrano de Bergerac," by Edmond Rostand. And it costars the long-legged blonde Daryl Hannah, makes good use of Shelley Duvall, Fred Willard, and Michael J. Pollard in supporting roles, was directed by the talented Australian Fred Schepisi. It's set, supposedly, in a pretty Oregon skiing town; actually filmed in a pretty Canadian town; the cinematography presents us with many green and charming vistas.

Its plot follows the original. C.D.(Charlie) Bales (Martin), (note he's got the same initials as the original), is the intelligent, engaging fire chief of the small town; he's got quite a lot going for him, but also, unfortunately, an extremely prominent nose. But he's getting alone fine until astronomy student Roxanne (Hannah) comes to town on a cheap summer sublet. She falls for one of Bales's employees, dumb but handsome Chris (Rick Rossovich) in a big way; but, fortunately, she doesn't really go for dumb. Her friend Dixie (Duvall), tells her she wants Chris's looks with Charlie's brains. And, for a while, that's what she gets, as Charlie writes Chris's love letters and dictates his dialogue.

Many critics have lauded Martin's extraordinary gift for physical comedy, but you've got to see it to believe it. He opens the movie with an energetic strut across town, then has a wonderfully choreographed fight with two rude young male tourists: his tennis racket against their ski poles. He also spends a lot of time climbing up and around houses and trees; and falls down from a tree, claiming he was abducted by aliens, as per a puzzling scene in the original play. The movie also gets a gratifying amount of mileage out of Charlie's fire department: there aren't too many movies that give the viewer any feel for what a character supposedly does to make a living. One criticism: Dixie is not as young or beautiful as Roxanne, but does that mean she had to be turned into an asexual auntie type? Oh well. Romantic comedies don't come much better than this.

Steve Martin was robbed!.......2007-05-31

Steve Martin deserved an Academy Award for "Roxanne", but Hollywood doesn't give Oscar to Comedians. At least he got nominated for a Glob(e). One of the great things about this movie is that there is no "bad guy" - you don't have to root for someone to go down in order for the hero to prevail.

Roxanne.......2007-05-09

Funny, Funny!! This movie has so many one liners you will find yourself quoting them for days!

One of the best Steve Martin films.......2007-04-02

Steve Martin's LA Story and the remarkable Roxanne have to be the two best films from his huge body of work.

Having penned the screenplay, Martin cleverly adapts the Cyrano De Bergerac tale to a modern setting, however, manages to maintain the original story line and large personality of Cyrano in the character of C.D. Bales, a fire chief of a beautiful small town in the mountains of British Colombia.

C.D. Bales is an educated, romantic and modern swashbuckling man who can street fight and win with style, possess a sharp wit, can swing and climb rooftops with the agility of a cat and write poetry and love letters that will make any woman swoon with delight. Unfortunately, Bales like De Bergerac, has a nose the size of a small tree, resulting in his shyness in the matters of love.

C.D. falls head over heels for Roxanne, a visiting astronomer with alluring beauty and a keen mind but feels his appearance, a nose the size of Kansas, will prevent any relationship.

A handsome man, Chris, (Rick Rossovich) joins the fire station to help train the volunteer crew of town misfits but cannot talk to women. Bales' woos Roxanne through Chris with love letters and poetry, thus Chris wins her heart. This unusual situation turns complicated, (similar to De Bergerac) when the masquerade starts to come undone to hilarious results.

Australian director, Fred Schepisi, brings Martin's adaptation of De Bergerac together in an entertaining modern romantic comedy that even today, despite the dated soundtrack, continues to be funny.

Some movies deserve only to be seen once though Roxanne can be pulled from the cabinet and viewed time and again as it remains a classic tale of the 80's & the 18th century.

Best bunch a guys at a firehouse comedy.......2007-02-18

A man can sniff out fires, with his very long nose! Steve Martin in this.

Average customer rating:

A Letter to Three Wives
Three Wives unnerved
A LITTLE GEM
Dated but interesting social document
Mankiewicz at Acerbic Best; Darnell, Crain and Sothern as Nervous Wives

A Letter to Three Wives
Starring: Jeanne Crain , Linda Darnell , Ann Sothern , Kirk Douglas , and Paul Douglas
Director: Joseph L. Mankiewicz
Manufacturer: 20th Century Fox
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ASIN: B00074DY0W
Release Date: 2005-02-22

Amazon.com essential video

Before he made the classic All About Eve, writer-director Joseph L. Mankiewicz made this clever story about three wives who spend an afternoon at a children's picnic mulling over a letter all three had just received, from a woman who says she's just run off with one of their husbands. As the wives--a former farm girl (Jeanne Crain), a radio soap opera writer (Ann Sothern), and a social climber from the wrong side of the tracks (Linda Darnell)--mull over the troubles of their marriages, each begins to think that she's the one left behind. A Letter to Three Wives doesn't have the crackling show-biz milieu of Eve, but it has the same mix of snappy dialogue and topnotch performances. The tone ranges from florid sentiment to unblinking cynicism, yet Mankiewicz holds it all together with smooth, witty direction. Also featuring Kirk Douglas and the great character actress Thelma Ritter. --Bret Fetzer

Description

Joseph Mankiewicz's unique intriguing comedy stars Ann Southern, Linda Darnell and Jeanne Crain as three wives who must wait out a long day to learn which of them has lost her husband to another woman.

Just as their boat sets off for the day, Deborah (Crain), Rita (Southern) and Lora Mae (Darnell) receive a letter from the alluring Addie Ross (narrator Celeste Holm) stating she has left town with one of their husbands. Each wife spends the fretful day pondering the state of her marriage and the affection each of their husbands has for Addie. By the end of the day, each woman is convinced she must surely be the betrayed wife.

Customer Reviews:

A Letter to Three Wives.......2007-06-21

The legendary Joe Mankiewcz received direction and screenplay Oscars for this sharp little gem, too often eclipsed by his masterful follow-up, "All About Eve". "Wives" uses a clever narrative device to explore the pettiness of small-town life, and the foibles and insecurities in three marriages, as the three women react to the mysterious note by taking stock of their lives, each knowing one of them is in for a big shock at day's end. Intelligent, incisive, and adult romantic drama. Look for Kirk Douglas in an early role as one of the husbands.

Three Wives unnerved.......2007-05-30

This is an excellent film and the strengths lie as much with the script as they do with the cast. The cast with includes Linda Darnell, Ann Southern, Kirk Douglas, Jeanne Crain, and the always marvelous Thelma Ritter are great, but it is doubtful they would be as good without the incredible script by Joseph L. Mankiewicz who also directed it.

For me, this movie should be shown on a double bill with The Best Years of Our Lives since it sums up so many aspects of the immediate post-war period and almost exists as a marvelous historical document of the concerns and day to anxieties of the period. That so many of these same concerns exist today also makes it still relevent.

The movie follows the concerns of three upper middle class couples all of whom are dealing with a particular set of problems. As the wives are leaving for an outing with underprivilage children, they receive a letter from Addie Ross, who is credited as the perfect woman by the men in tne movie. She announces that she has run off with one of their husbands and this uncertainty provides the dramatic tension of the film. Three distinct episodes follow in which each of the women ponder whether her husband has left. Is it Brad Bishop (whose wife worries about fitting in with her husband's upper class friends), George Phipps (whose wife is trying to have a career and a home) or Porter Hollingsway (whose wife is from the wrong side of the tracks) who has left town with the never seen Ms Ross?

The movie deals with issues such as commericalization, readjustment to civilian life after WWII, social mobility (a thread that runs through all the three stories) and what makes a marriage work. The script is so well done that it keeps the viewer guessing until the last minute who has left with Addie Ross. To be able to tackle all of these issues in an entertaining fashion is what marks this film as the important and still relevent vehicle that it still is.

A LITTLE GEM.......2007-03-28

I have watched this film on a number of occasions over the last 30 years and each time I find something more to enjoy about it. It is undoubtedly politically incorrect by today's standards, emphasising as it does the accepted thinking of the time that a woman was nothing without a successful husband. That aside, it is extremely well acted. Of particular delight is the inimitable Thelma Ritter as Sadie and Celeste Holm doing a superb "voice over" for the unseen Adie Ross. The film has a clever plot, a sharp, snappy script and faultless direction. The casting of Crain, Sothern and Darnell works extremely well, but for me, my favourite character of all has to be Porter Hollingsway, the typical hard nosed businessman with the soft centre, so admirably portrayed by Paul Douglas. I am sure Paul Douglas must have been one of the most under rated actors of his time. Unlike Kirk Douglas, who also appeared in this film, he was not, and did not become, a really "Big Star", possibly due in part to his untimely death in the 1950s. Nevertheless, his excellent portrayal ensures Porter Hollingsway comes over as the most natural and believable of "the three husbands". Overall, a truly super film which never fails to delight and which deserves a much higher profile than it currently receives.

Dated but interesting social document.......2007-03-16

This is a film that has not aged well. The 1948 concerns of women moving in post-war American middle class suburbia are just not biting today. In fact the most interesting characters are those played by Kirk Douglas and Paul Douglas as two of the husbands. The "clever" dialogue is not that clever today - still it does have a few laughs. An interesting social document of the period. Includes a good commentary in the DVD extras.

Mankiewicz at Acerbic Best; Darnell, Crain and Sothern as Nervous Wives.......2007-02-27

World War Two had recently ended and things were settling back to normal in affluent Connecticut suburbia until a bombshell from out of the blue thrust three reasonably contented wives into a state of panic.

Joseph Mankiewicz had a genuine feel for dialogue and human conflict. He directed and wrote "A Letter to Three Wives" in between "The Ghost and Mrs. Muir" with Gene Tierney and Rex Harrison and his classic of theatrical double and triple dealing, "All About Eve" when newcomer Anne Baxter on the surface seeks to befriend Broadway star Bette Davis while plotting to overthrow her theatrical dynasty.

The 1949 release reveals the women frightened over a letter that a local charmer noted for having her way with men has written to three wives informing them that one of their husband is preparing to run away with her and say goodbye to suburban Connecticut marriage. The question is "Which one?" and this is the driving force that makes this sophisticated Mankiewicz drama a pure delight.

We never see the dazzling woman who has such compelling power and presence over the opposite sex that three beautiful and intelligent women fear that she will run off with her husband. Mankiewicz knew how to tease his viewers, offering them just a little bit, then holding back to leave them begging for more.

This is illustrated by the fact that we never see this woman who seeks to manipulate events behind the scenes and drive three women into torturous tizzy. The voice generates a perfect mix of confident appeal and daring sophistication to convince viewers that this indeed is a woman that the film's three female stars have reason to fear. The narrator is Celeste Holm, who got her big break in "Oklahoma" on Broadway and would be cast as Bette Davis's best friend in "All About Eve."

Jeanne Crain exudes a sweet and sincere beauty, the kind that could attract a man like Jeffrey Lynn, her stalwart husband who demonstrates solidity. Crain is fearful that her homespun manner might not be sophisticated and worldly enough to compete with the likes of Addie Ross, the woman behind the scenes.

Ann Sothern is a woman of shrewdness and creativity who feels edgy over the fact that, as a writer of radio soap operas, she makes more money than her intellectual schoolteacher husband. Mankiewicz sets up a fascinating clash between Sothern's husband Kirk Douglas and his wife's bosses, the producers of the soap opera drama for which Sothern writes. Their commercialism and anti-intellectualism disgust Douglas. He gets even in the manner of a teacher by correcting the female boss' grammar.

Linda Darnell grew up literally next to the tracks. The trains pass by at speedy clips and the apartment where she resides with her mother and sister rocks. Linda, a sales girl at the town department store, sees an opportunity to move up the local social ladder when Paul Douglas, the store's owner, expresses romantic interest.

Darnell seeks to steer a discrete course between displaying interest and playing hard to get, eventually winning her man.

The scenes in the apartment being rocked back and forth periodically by jolts from trains speeding down tracks while Darnell's mother, Connie Gilchrist, along with her friend Thelma Ritter drink beer and play cards, deliver superb comic relief from the unfolding domestic suspense.

Ritter delivers her usual saucy lines as the film's Greek Chorus, a role she would soon reprise for Mankiewicz as Bette Davis's lady in waiting in "All About Eve" and eventually for Alfred Hitchcock as she lectures James Stewart on why he should marry Grace Kelly in "Rear Window."

Mankiewicz keeps the pot boiling, maintaining suspense until the dramatic conclusion when the nervous wives learn the identity of the man Addie Ross insists will forego matrimony for her. Who is the man and will he actually leave his wife as Ross confidently proclaims?

Enjoy the suspense and stay tuned.

Average customer rating:

Finally a romantic comedy that doesn't conform to the same old Hollywood mold!!
Really sweet and easy to watch
Ellen Degeneres makes this movie!
Follow Your Heart
Picture a summer day in a provincial New England town . . .

The Love Letter
Starring: Kate Capshaw , Blythe Danner , Ellen DeGeneres , Julianne Nicholson , and Tom Everett Scott
Director: Peter Chan
Manufacturer: Dreamworks Video
ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: DVD

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ASIN: 0783239416
Release Date: 1999-11-23

Amazon.com

Its ads portrayed it as a wacky farce, while critics largely ignored it, presuming it to be a vanity project from Kate Capshaw (better known as Mrs. Steven Spielberg). But The Love Letter is neither; on the contrary, it's a low-key but surprisingly rich and touching film about love, illusions, and regret. Helen (Capshaw), a bookseller in a small seashore town, discovers an unsigned love letter that's fallen into the cushions of a couch in her store. The letter doesn't say who it's for, but Helen assumes it's for her and starts wondering who sent it. One would expect this to lead to a whirling comedy of mistaken identities, but after some amusing daydream moments, the movie follows its story with subtlety and nuance. The characters behave according to their own needs and desires, rather than the demands of standard Hollywood goofiness. The performances--from a cast including Tom Selleck (In and Out), Tom Everett Scott (That Thing You Do), Ellen DeGeneres (EDtv), newcomer Julianne Nicholson, and others--are uniformly unforced and natural. Viewers weary of the hyped-up, absurd emotional climaxes of most so-called romantic comedies will find a respite here. The Love Letter is a genuinely charming film. --Bret Fetzer

Customer Reviews:

Finally a romantic comedy that doesn't conform to the same old Hollywood mold!!.......2006-07-16

Don't get me wrong...I'm as likely as anyone else looking for a "chick flick" to watch the latest Meg Ryan movie with the cute leading man....but this movie adds something extra. Instead of just dishing out the same old blather that most romantic comedies spout (girl & guy meet, girl & guy go through some conflict, but eventually guy & girl get together and live happily ever after) this movie actually takes the time to explore what makes a relationship between two people special and unique, whether that relationship is between two friends, lovers, or family members.

This movie is also great because it expounds upon the HUGE role that a person's mind plays when it comes to love and sex.

Kate Capshaw's character, Helen, is great for audience members who still haven't figured out that women are sexual beings and that it's OKAY for them to enjoy sex! (Even with a much younger man!)

All the characters remind us that even though we may not have everything figured out, you can always learn some new tricks, no matter what your age.

If you're in the mood for mindless entertainment, I wouldn't recommend this movie. However, if you're ready for a touching and romantic but still lighthearted flick, this is a good one!!

Really sweet and easy to watch.......2006-07-13

Surprisingly good, and Kate Capshaw is very engaging. The romance between her and the younger man is totally beleivable (the absence of any other younger beauties is conspicuous, however). That aside, it's a great comedy with just a touch of bittersweet--one of my favorites.

Ellen Degeneres makes this movie!.......2006-03-25

I'm so happy to see Ellen in a movie. All in all, the movie is full of romance and laughter. The all around cast is great to watch.

Follow Your Heart.......2005-10-21

This quirky romantic comedy is filled with surprises. The entire cast is wonderful and the small town seaside setting with all the entanglements of small town life makes this a fun movie.
I've watched this several times and never tire of the unique storylines of lost loves and the people who find happiness when they follow their hearts.

Picture a summer day in a provincial New England town . . ........2005-07-26

in a small, quaint bookshop, in which the paint is peeling from the mismatched bookcases, and the view of the sea below is as crisp and clear as it possibly can be from the wavy, leaded glass windows. Now picture coming back to this town every summer, visiting old friends, spending your Fourth of July evening at the local park. This movie is more about mood to me than anything. I watch it over and over every summer, wishing I could be a bookseller in Loblolly-by-the-Sea. I can almost smell the salty air and taste the lobster in the local restaurant. This film is a love letter to the romantic in all of us who wishes to spend time curled up with a good book (or movie) on a lazy summer day.
Capshaw is a perfect Helen. DeGeneres, a perfectly hilarious best friend. And Selleck is wonderful in this film, capturing the sensitive George. It makes me wonder why he doesn't take on more roles.
The only fault I find with this film is in the casting of Thomas Everett Scott ("That Thing You Do") as Johnny. He's a bit too mature-looking to play Helen's impetuous summer fling. No matter how many times I watch this movie, I'm never thorougly convinced he's right as the young college student.
Anyway, enjoy the film, soak up the mood, and I'll bet you'll come back again and again.

Average customer rating:

Amelie becomes scary
Trying to break away from stereotype?
Amazing
He Loves Me, He Loves Me Not
Il M'a Choqué- A French Romance/Thriller tinted with the blackest of black humor

He Loves Me, He Loves Me Not
Starring: Audrey Tautou , Samuel Le Bihan , Isabelle Carré , Clément Sibony , and Sophie Guillemin
Director: Laetitia Colombani
Manufacturer: Sony Pictures
ProductGroup: DVD
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Amelie
God Is Great, and I'm Not

ASIN: B00005JM48
Release Date: 2003-08-12

Amazon.com

That adorable Audrey Tautou from Amélie plays the central role in this deceptive story of a rather unusual romance. It would spoil the film's clever design to reveal what happens halfway through He Loves Me, He Loves Me Not, so let's just say that Tautou plays a winsome girl in the sunny town of Bordeaux, whose relationship with a married doctor has more layers than first it seems. Samuel LeBihan, from Brotherhood of the Wolf, plays the doctor, but it's the casting of cutie-pie Tautou that sets up the movie's gradually sinister undertow. Director Laetitia Colombani's inventive structure plays a satisfyingly tricky game with the audience, and may have some viewers going back to the beginning to make sure they saw what they thought they saw. Just don't go in expecting Amélie part deux, and you should find this an ingenious little number. --Robert Horton

Description

When we first meet rising young artist Angelique (Tautou), she is in the glorious throes of true love, and the whole world has seemingly fallen under her spell. Her handsome lover Loic is madly in love with her, her paintings are winning wide acclaim, and a glorious future seems all but assured. But Angelique's blissful world may not be as enchanting as it first seems, and in a quick startling moment, her life - and our understanding of it -seems to unravel in front of our eyes. Starring Audrey Tautou (Amelie), Samuel Le Bihan (Three Colors: Red).

Customer Reviews:

Amelie becomes scary.......2007-05-15

To escape being typecast as cute, Audrey plays a psychotic with a dangerous delusion. The film presents the story to the viewer from two perspectives, with an ending that reminds one of Alfred Hitchcock. Ms. Tautou plays her youthful, sweet smile to great effect, and the viewer is manipulated into compassion - for the wrong person. Even if Audrey Tautou were not in the film, it is worth seeing.

Trying to break away from stereotype?.......2007-03-19

Audrey Tatou is most well known for her kooky role in Amelie, a film that's greatly admired, and that I loved. I also liked her in A Very Long Engagement. I borrowed this from a friend, as I hadn't seen it yet, but then I took ages to get around to watching it.

During the first forty minutes of this film, you will consider switching it off. It's very strange. For starters, the boyfriend appears as a jerk, yet Angélique seems completely besotted, dare I say it OBSESSED, despite the fact he's not only married, and as a child on the way, but seems to treat her with nothing but contempt. And he barely speaks in the first forty minutes. It's a whirlwind romance, and things seem to be happening way too fast.

Don't touch your remotes when it starts "rewinding" itself though, this is a very clever thing. The film actually switches points of view, from Angélique to Loïc, the boyfriend, played by Samuel Le Bihan, who was also in Brotherhood Of The Wolf.

It's quite a twisted plot, and I really don't want to give too much away in this review. Even from reading the blurb on the back, you don't expect He Loves Me, He Loves Me Not, to unfold the way it does. It does invite comparisons to Fatal Attraction, but it's a lot cleverer than that. It's also the French version of Sliding Doors I guess, it has a couple of similarities in it.

However, it does drag out just slightly too long. When everything is on the screen in front, you're nodding, and waiting for it to end. But it doesn't. I actually ended up hating the Angélique character, and the mood I was in as well, did not help. Samuel Le Bihan does play a brilliant character, although it was kinda irritating in the first forty minutes how he didn't have anything lines to say. The second half is where he comes through.

Looking at stuff on IMDB, it's quite interesting, as one reviewer described it, as how the different titles in different countries, are literally "lost in translation". The French title translated straight into English is "Passionately... not at all" - the first half from Angélique, the second half from Loïc. But the full phrase is actually "il m'aime a la folie, il m'aime pas du tout", which means "he loves me, a little, a lot, passionately, crazily (insanely), not at all". The German title is "Wahnsinnig verliebt", which means "crazily in love".

I'm not sure if I would ever watch this again, it is a very strange film, but it's definitely worthwhile picking up on the cheap. Just don't expect another Amelie.

Amazing.......2007-03-02

This movie is amazing, we watched it in my French class and I just recently purchased it. It is one of my favorites.

He Loves Me, He Loves Me Not.......2007-02-27

Sorry this took so long, but this DVD arrived in no time and great condition! Thanks for the purchase!

Il M'a Choqué- A French Romance/Thriller tinted with the blackest of black humor.......2006-12-22

To be honest after watching this film I felt like I needed an insulin shot, and just wanted to curl up on the coach to watch Amelie again. He Loves Me, He Loves Me Not (À La Folie, Pas Du Tout) is a wickedly twisty and clever French film that makes great use of its cast and lead actress, Audrey Tautou. As well, it uses music to a great ironic effect better than any movie I have ever seen (though "What A Difference A Day Makes" in Run Lola Run comes close). I agree it is probably best to watch the movie without very much previous information (besides the knowledge that it is two-faced) as your experience will be more rewarding. While it did ultimately leave me feeling sad for all the characters involved it is nontheless an ingrossing and well made film that lives up to what it promises. Great for those who enjoy romantic thrillers and dark comedy (and I mean very dark); if you only enjoy films with happy/conventional endings this is not a movie for you. What I do know is that you will never think of the song L-O-V-E in the same way again.

Average customer rating:

This is the novel brought to life.
Very Textually Accurate
Essential for English Teachers
Help students visualize
I beg to Differ, But . . .

The Scarlet Letter
Starring: Josef Sommer , Meg Foster , Elisa Erali , John Heard , and Ralph Drischell
Director: Rick Hauser
Manufacturer: Wgbh Boston
ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: DVD

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The Scarlet Letter
Hawthorne's The Scarlet Letter (Cliffs Notes)

ASIN: B00008DDS0
Release Date: 2003-03-04

Description

An epic version of Nathaniel Hawthorne's enduring novel of Puritan America in search of its soul. Hester Prynne overcomes the stigma of adultery to emerge as the first great heroine in American literature. Hawthorne's themes—the nature of sin, social hypocrisy and community repression—still reverberate through American society. Stars Meg Foster, John Heard and Kevin Conway. Directed by Rick Hauser.

Special DVD features include: special video segments that take viewrrs behind-the-scenes on the filming of The Scarlet Letter; select cast filmographies; a Hawthorne biography; discussion questions for educators; scene selection; English audiotrack; and closed captions.

On two DVD9 discs. Region coding: All regions. Audio: Dolby stereo. Screen format: 4 x 3 Full-Frame

Customer Reviews:

This is the novel brought to life........2007-01-24

If you want to truly experience Hawthorne's work, this version is for you. In contrast, the Demi Moore version bears little resemblance to the novel. To choose it over the PBS version would be akin to choosing a coloring -book rendering of the Mona Lisa over the masterpiece itself: you get an idea of what it is all about, but all the right colors and strokes are missing, and the drama and effect are lost.

Very Textually Accurate.......2007-01-06

This is a great version of the Scarlet Letter, specifically because it remains very true to the original text. Though, of course, there are some omissions, the majority of the movie is very accurate. I am an American Lit teacher, and I use segments of this version in my classroom. It helps students to visualize the characters and the time period being portrayed.

Essential for English Teachers.......2006-02-25

As a movie buff, I give this DVD 1.5 stars. As an English teacher, I give it 5.

Cons:

Ultra-low budget production
Costumes meant to be dramatic, are actually comic
Filmed on video - looks and sounds almost submerged
Campy music is source of uproarous class laughter
Special effects that aren't special at all (i.e. hilarious meteor)
It takes at least one hour to get used to Meg Foster's eyes
"Boston" has the feeling of "this is all we could afford"
Actress who plays Mistress Hibbens attempts to act "near the edge" and instead plunges over it

Pros:

Extremely faithful to the book
Many critical scenes are reproduced word-for-word
High School appropriate, (unlike Demi Moore's version)
Would be rated "G" if it had a rating - no profanity or nudity
Quite compelling performances by Meg Foster and John Heard
Becomes strangely more and more believable as it progresses
Nice use of natural light and scenery
Convenient menus divided by titles of book chapters

Until someone decides to film this book properly, with a big budget, faithful script, THX sound and world-class actors, this 1979 PBS special on DVD is the only choice for English teachers.

There are, of course, two earlier versions. The first is a silent film that I have not seen. The second is from 1934 and I've seen enough of it to know that it is so hopelessly ancient, with choppy, jerky black and white cinematography and sound that seems to have come from an Alexander G. Bell wax cylinder, that high school students will likely be unable to connect with it.

The third version is this 1979 PBS miniseries on DVD. It is four hours long, and comes on two discs packed in one box. I have found that it lends itself quite well to being shown in conjunction with assigned chapters, and follows the book very faithfully.

All in all, I'm pleased with my investment, and while my students enjoyed laughing at some aspects of the film's (lack of) production quality, they certainly seem to have benefitted from it in terms of comprehension. I recommend it to my fellow English teachers without reservation, until something better comes along.

Final Note: My classes saw this DVD displayed on a big screen by a Hitachi CP-S318 digital projector feeding from a Panasonic DVD player. Crammed down to a 29 inch TV, I'm not sure if it would be visually tolerable. The big screen gives it, (and us,) room to breath.

Help students visualize.......2006-01-29

Though there are some differences between the novel and this version of the movie, they are minor and do not interfere with meaning. My students were discussing character development, viewing scenes from the movie helped them see the characters as more than words on paper.

I beg to Differ, But . . ........2005-11-14

True, Hawthorne's novel deserves a full-out treatment, but not one as plodding and slow as this. We all know the complexities of the novel - we are not reviewing that, but rather a version that is at least an 1 1/2 hours too long. The pacing is deadly, the set - a view of Boston in 1650 - looks like Peabody in 1625. 14 people gather around Hester after her 9 foot walk to the public scaffold. The whole production seems smallish.

And I'm sorry, but Meg Foster's eyes are so weirdly other-worldish that I couldn't concentrate on much else.

This production gets a Scarlet C-.

Average customer rating:

Tale of Two Loves
Great version...but a problem with audio
Wonderful Wit
My own dear love I love you not.....
'Beautiful?!?'

Cyrano de Bergerac
Starring: José Ferrer , Mala Powers , William Prince , Morris Carnovsky , and Ralph Clanton
Director: Michael Gordon
Manufacturer: Alpha Video
ProductGroup: DVD
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Cyrano de Bergerac
Cyrano De Bergerac
Roxanne
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Cyrano de Bergerac (Cliffs Notes)

ASIN: B0000D1FFU
Release Date: 2003-11-18

Amazon.com

Edmond Rostand's ineffably romantic play about the big-nosed soldier and swordsman with a poet's soul looks stagey in this 1950 film adaptation. But, thanks to a heartfelt performance by Jose Ferrer (who won an Oscar for the role), the beauty of Rostand's words shines through. Ferrer plays Cyrano, who is in love with the beautiful Roxanne but is unable to tell her so for fear that she will reject him because of his extremely prominent nose. In a heart-breaking turn, she confesses her love to him--but it is love for another man, a soldier under his command named Christian. Christian, however, is a good-hearted but tongue-tied youngster, and so the older Cyrano woos Roxanne vicariously by supplying Christian with his own words of love, most famously in a balcony scene in which Cyrano speaks for himself while pretending to be Christian. Ferrer is tender, tough, and funny and single-handedly pulls this film to near-greatness. --Marshall Fine

Customer Reviews:

Tale of Two Loves .......2007-05-26

Beauty is in the eye of the beholder...or maybe it is in the ear of the beholder.

Jose Ferrer plays Cyrano de Bergerac, a witty, chivalrous swordsman who has a flair for quick quips and romantics. Cyrano's one insecurity is something he can do little about, his rather large nose, and this seems to make him reluctant to profess his love for a woman he desperately is in love with, Roxane. Roxane, however, has her love already set on another man (Christian) who has the looks that Cyrano has no hope of competing with.

In a classic story of lost love, and inner and outer beauty, the film Cyrano de Bergerac seems to highlight the idea that physical attraction can only go so far, and that sacrifice is a huge part of love. There is a significant point in the film when both major characters--Cyrano and Christian--have to sacrifice something. Christian's sacrifice in battle is parallel with Cyrano's sacrifice in trying to help Christian win the love of Roxane, and these sacrifices seem to underscore the various meanings of love in the film. While Roxane loves Christian for his outer handsomeness, it is the voice and words of Cyrano, unbeknownst to her, that she falls in love with. This seems to highlight the notion that physical attraction can only work so much magic before it falls flat, that there has to be something deeper.

Another interesting perspective is the two types of battles raging: both physical and emotional. The physical war that Cyrano and Christian fight in seems to coincide with the emotional battle within both of their hearts for Roxane. These seem to equate with both characters different kinds of wounds suffered: Cyrano (emotional, from the idea of not gaining Roxane's love) and Christian (physical, from being hurt in battle).

Clearly a sense of honor is there for Cyrano, and this makes the final climactic scene with Roxane perhaps the best scene in the film.

This is well-performed classic, albeit overlooked, shows that love has more than one dimension.

Great version...but a problem with audio.......2007-05-20

I love this movie. I think that Jose Ferrer is great a Cyrano. My students also liked this version and it was great for showing the consolidation of characters and plot lines. However, the audio inconsistencies tended to be a problem. My students missed lines. On the plus side, they were quiet throughout the movie.

Wonderful Wit.......2007-05-15

This version of Cyrano de Bergerac is timeless. Jose Ferrer embodies the character of Cyrano in a way that Steve Martin's "Roxanne" version of the story never did. I highly recommend this movie for entertainment, as well as, disscusion of wit and humor during the Renescience.

My own dear love I love you not............2007-04-13

Everytime I watched this movie when I was growing up on television, I would cry when he said that one line. Cyrano to me was the very picture of what this time period is like, this is the version that I love more than all others. I was in my local Half Price Books when I saw the book, I picked it up and was thumbing through it when I realized that the DVD of the Jose Ferrar version was attached all for $5.98, joy. I have seen every version of Cyrano, even the Steve Martin take on it in Roxanne. Jose's tenderness and beauty in this part is something that I must admit that I have read some of the reviews and they say that it doesn't seem realistic to them. There was a time when men actually courted women with sweet words and kindness, when being a poet was something that you were praised for. I suppose that there will be people who think that there is something fantasy like in this character but I also know that he is based on a real poet living at the time that it was written. I find that it was something that endeared the character to me. I love Cyrano, he taught me at a young age that it is important to look beyond someone's features and see who they are. I am like the young woman who offered him a feast at the beginning of the movie, my eyes would have held no mocking in them. Jose Ferrer is amazing in this part, this is the one that I looked for and when I found it that Sunday afternoon, I ran to watch it because it had been my one true search for so long. The quality of my DVD is fine, it has that haze of older film but everything can't be HD, get over it and watch the movie.

'Beautiful?!?'.......2007-03-18

I grew up watching a lot of old movies, many of them black & white, there is something magical about them, something that makes them appear sort of dreamlike.
Perhaps it is the combination of the actually clearer contrast (as compared to color movies) with the lower overall film quality (resulting in a kind of 'haze' over the picture, perhaps it is the fact that many of the b&w era actors could actually [i]act[/i]........
I have the Alpha Video version and mine plays fine, except for one or two skips, not bad for a $ 2.00 DVD.....
This is one of my favorite movies of all time, regrettably not very well known in the US, Cyrano one of the most gallant and tragic heroes in literature.
Enough (genuine!) swordplay to satisfy the adventure movie fan, all the romance your girlfriend can handle, language and poetry to please the stoutest of Shakespeareans.
Get this movie. Get the book, too.

Average customer rating:

bad stuff
Loved it!
Great Movie
Disappointing...
A movie much too wonderful to miss.

The Love Letter
Starring: Campbell Scott , Jennifer Jason Leigh , David Dukes , Estelle Parsons , and Daphne Ashbrook
Director: Dan Curtis
Manufacturer: Hallmark
ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: DVD

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The Locket
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ASIN: B00004WI57
Release Date: 2000-10-17

Amazon.com

No one with romantic tendencies will be able to resist The Love Letter. Campbell Scott plays a Civil War buff who buys a desk from that era. While polishing it, he discovers a secret compartment, in which sits an unmailed letter--a letter written by a young woman named Lizzie (Jennifer Jason Leigh) over a century earlier. Touched by her yearning for passion, he writes her back, egged on by his mystically inclined mother (Estelle Parsons). Magically his letter reaches Lizzie and they begin a correspondence that threatens Scott's impending marriage but promises to bring fulfilment to Lizzie. The Love Letter is absurd, yet somehow that doesn't stop it from being completely engaging and even moving. Scott and Parsons are solid, while Jason Leigh is downright rapturous--the movie may owe its success to her. The plot has surprising twists and the conclusion is sweet and satisfying. An unexpected pleasure. --Bret Fetzer

Customer Reviews:

bad stuff.......2007-03-27

I wrote a review for this movie and it disappeared. I would like to know why, but I'll try again.

I did not like this movie. I love Jack Finney and he would not approve of this movie. Here is this guy who is a few weeks away from getting married and he is writing love letters to a ghost. What does this say about him? I saw nothing in her letter that should have made him fall in love with her. I felt the whole thing was bogus, the guy was a cheat to his fiance and he dumped her with no tears or emotion. The fiance was clearly in love with him, but was probably lucky he dumped her. He seemed deranged, even to his mother. I didn't feel it was romantic at all and I love romantic movies (especially "magic of ordinary days"). ...and who was the girl he met in the cemetary? ...an illegitimate daughter of the girl with the desk? If so, wasn't she his own great, great granddaughter? forget buying this. watch "Lake House" instead. It's a much better time travel movie.

Loved it!.......2007-02-06

This movie was almost impossible to find. Favorite line.."I ache for a love that burns like fire and moonlight." Maybe time travel is possible. (not really:-)

Great Movie.......2006-12-09

If you love history and digging into the past, and you let your heart believe in the impossible, you will love the movie!

Disappointing..........2006-07-07

This review is for those of you considering shelling out money for this DVD. If you haven't seen it yet, I'd suggest you rent it or borrow from the library first. After reading all the positive reviews, and seeing the Korean movie adapation, Il Mare, I decided to buy this (and it wasn't exactly a bargain either). I was sadly disappointed. The production quality is quite bad, making the historic parts barely believable - e.g. the war scene with Campbell Scott was laughable. I've seen Hallmark films before, and the quality was never this bad (e.g. Sarah, Plain and Tall was quite good). The poorly staged scenes were so distracting that I couldn't get into the story. For a great movie involving letters travelling through time, try The Lakehouse or Il Mare, which are both loosely based on the same story.

A movie much too wonderful to miss........2006-06-06

This is a wonderful, wonderful love story that I DO watch over and over again. I let someone borrow it and didn't get it back for 9 months!!! I got it back yesterday and watched it right then. I have the video tape and am now looking to buy it on DVD. Wow, what a movie. So full of life, love and..... just so much... Watch it and you will understand.

Kathy E. Richardson, East TN

Average customer rating:

Where's the plot?
Worth watching again, and again!
Uhhh...
Frodo finally gets some
Cool

All I Want
Starring: Elijah Wood , Franka Potente , Mandy Moore (II) , Chris Martin (II) , and Deborah Harry
Director: Jeffrey Porter
Manufacturer: Sony Pictures
ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: DVD

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