Of the two romances, the younger one between Sophie (Amanda Seyfried, the "It Girl" of the moment) and Charlie (Christopher Egan), has the most problematic plot because it is entirely dependent upon Sophie belatedly realizing that her fiancé, Victor (Gael Garcia Bernal, "Y tu mama tambien"), only has eyes for restaurant recipes and not for her. Victor's character is implausibly written as being so driven that their relationship is reduced to one of near chastity even though they are engaged, now in sunny, beautiful Italy, and due to get married upon their return to New York City. For him to have so much passion for cooking and so little for Sophie defies belief. 

However, this creaky plot point serves two purposes. The first is to allow Sophie the time to spend at the Verona wall where letters from the lovelorn are stuck in the cracks between the bricks. These letters seek advice from a mythical Juliet, and it falls to a few civic-minded Verona ladies to answer them. While visiting this wall, an ancient letter falls out from behind a brick, and Claire is so entranced by its contents that she offers to answer it herself.

Of course, the 50-year old letter is from Claire (Vanessa Redgrave), a now wealthy English widow who quickly responds to Sophie's belated but beautifully written response. She rushes to Verona to find her long lost Lorenzo, dragging along her very dubious grandson, Charlie (Christopher Egan) for company.  Charlie is angry at having to escort his grandmother on this trip to Italy. Like any good, stolid Englishman, he considers his grandmother's search for her Lorenzo to be a fool's errand.  

Naturally, he blames Sophie for this silliness, and  the two start off with a healthy dislike for each other. The fact that she is engaged and therefore unavailable also serves to keep any possible romance in abeyance. Our recognizing the obvious long before the characters do is a common theme in the often improbable plots of romantic comedies. It is axiomatic that any two leads who first greatly dislike each other are destined to be together. You can't go far in the rom com world without harkening back to Jane Austen and "Pride and Prejudice." Furthermore, Sophie becomes so preoccupied with finding love for Claire that she neglects her own love life, thus the second plot point is accomplished whereby Sophie defines herself as being "taken," but we see that she is in reality available. 

In a moment of divinely inspired casting, Claire's long lost love from 50 years before turns out to be played by Franco Nero, her cinematic love from nearly as far back. I love the illusion to their pairing 43 years earlier in the 1967 movie, "Camelot." Then Vanessa Redgrave as Guenevere carried on an illicit affair with Franco Nero as Sir Lancelot soon after she became the new Queen to King Arthur. In a moment of deliciously creative cinematic justice, the two come back to validate, recreate, replicate, continue, and consummate their affair with a marriage in this movie. Their being cast together again after so many years in these two roles raises this romantic comedy to one with moments of sublime pleasure for me. 

The story written by Jose Rivera and Tim Sullivan does have its rough spots, especially when Charlie proves to be more obtuse than usual, Victor proves to be more selfishly preoccupied than usual, and the film creaks through more than the requisite number of Lorenzos in order to find Claire's long lost love, trying our patience in the process. However, none of this matters when Vanessa Redgrave is on the screen. What really sells this film is her luminous presence as Claire, a role to which she lends grace, dignity, and her still considerable beauty. 

Finally, no review of this movie could fail to mention the scenic beauty of northern Italy with its vineyard-laced countryside and picturesque ancient towns including Verona and Siena. If this film doesn't get you reaching for the travel brochures, then there is something wrong with you. PG-13 and 105 minutes.