Letters to Juliet's love story is a chore

In Verona, Italy, Shakespeare's Juliet is a kind-of Ann Landers for the romantically confused and brokenhearted, and Sophie (Amanda Seyfried), on vacation with her chef boyfriend (Gael Garcia Bernal) replies to an ancient letter, imploring Juliet for advice. The author, Claire (Vanessa Redgrave), travels to Sophie ---dragging along her prick grandson (Charlie Egan) for Sophie to fall in love with---and enlists her to help find a long-lost love. The Italian countryside, the mouth-watering Bernal and Redgrave's understated and vulnerable performance are the real pleasures in this film. Egan's character Charlie is an unpleasant turn-off and Letters to Juliet's central love story is a chore. The film's fatal flaw is typical of bad rom-coms: the supporting characters are always more interesting than the main ones.