Letters to Juliet: PG: mild language; 1:45; $ $ $ ½ (out of $5)

Besides the ever literary matter of forbidden love, what do you suppose ill-fated partners named Romeo and Juliet and Lancelot and Guinevere might have in common, right here and now in 2010?

Well, how about the gorgeously picturesque “Letters to Juliet”? Its story easily might start a rush to Verona, the place where Shakespeare’s star-crossed teens met and parted. Of course, DVD dealers might do well, too, since “Juliet” re-ignites the bittersweet chemistry generated on screen (and off, as well) by Vanessa Redgrave (Ginny) and Franco Nero (Lance), playing the unintentional betrayers of King Arthur in the classic 1960s musical “Camelot.”

Now, two generations older, gentler and still extremely photogenic, Redgrave and Nero hook up once more in a sidebar plot that gives their latest film more juice — and Italian charm — than either side of the romantic triangle surrounding suddenly ubiquitous lead actress Amanda Seyfried.

Seyfried, just seen in “Dear John” and “Chloe,” as well as cable HBO’s “Big Love,” plays a likable researcher (for The New Yorker) who arrives in the Verona area with her chef fiancé (Gael Garcia Bernal) on a so-called “pre-honeymoon”/business trip.

Seriously, while Bernal’s silly Victor is busy picking up tips for his soon-to-open NYC restaurant, Seyfried’s already distracted future bride Sophie stumbles upon a gem of a topic to send her own dreams of a writing career on the way to becoming reality. That would be the group of eager volunteers working daily and diligently to answer the scores of letters left by mostly heartsick tourists, seeking romantic advice from the fictional Juliet. The young American even joins the team, responding to one old missive she finds hidden between the cracks of a kind of wailing wall in the middle of town.

Naturally, such wiser-than-her-years counsel inspires the original letter-writer (the truly wonderful Redgrave) to return from Britain and search for the Italian youth she left behind almost 60 years earlier. Along with the old gal, who is quite taken by Seyfried’s adorable Sophie, arrives an arrogant prig of a grandson (Christopher Egan), thinking that the his luminous grandmother’s quest is all a bunch of hooey.

But, is it really? Shouldn’t all matters of the heart and soul(mates) be this blatantly impractical? Sure, especially since no one will be required to work very hard to figure out how any of it actually ends. Simply be in the mood to roll with some gentle laughs and the magical hills of Tuscany. Oh, also be sure to rent “Camelot” somewhere down the line.

Read more by John M. Urbancich at http://jmuvies.blogspot.com