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Have you ever tasted anything so sweet it makes you sick to your stomach? If you like that feeling, there's more than a good chance you'll like Serendipity, a new humdrum, paper-thin version of Sleepless in Seattle with John Cusack and Kate Beckinsale taking over for Tom and Meg. The film is forced and utterly predictable, despite two decent performances from the very likeable, charismatic leads. Other than that, the best thing I can say about Serendipity is that it's short.
The action begins a decade in the past where Jonathan Trager (Cusack, America's Sweethearts) and Sara Thomas (Kate Beckinsale, Pearl Harbor) meet in a Christmas-shopping free-for-all at Bloomingdale's. Each has a significant other, but when they reach for the same pair of black cashmere gloves, the sparks fly and the two spend a few hours ice-skating and eating at a trendy cafe called Serendipity.
Although she's clearly interested in Jonathan, Sara lays some destiny twaddle on him and refuses to give him her name, letting fate determine the outcome of any potential relationship. Sara makes Jonathan write his name and phone number on a $5 bill (which she uses to by some mints), while she scribbles her name and number on the inside of the novel she's reading (which she sells to a used bookstore the following morning). If Jonathan and Sara are somehow able to find each other (via the book or the fin), that'll be destiny's way of saying they're meant to be together. The book, by the way, is Gabriel Garcia Marquez's Love in the Time of Cholera, which is about a man who waits 50 years to get the girl.
Nobody would want to see 75-year-old versions of Cusack and Beckinsale get together, so Serendipity makes them wait only ten years. At this point, Sara is living in San Francisco and has just gotten engaged to a kooky Eastern music star (John Corbett, Dinner Rush). Meanwhile, Jonathan is still in New York City and about to marry his slightly bitchy fiancee (Bridget Moynahan, Coyote Ugly). It's hard to say whether Jonathan is still obsessed with finding Sara or if he just has cold feet, but he continues to track down the girl of his dreams, who ironically is headed to Manhattan the same weekend his wedding is scheduled to take place. Sara says she's going away to clear her head but is really hoping to run into Jonathan.
The two search for each other, and narrowly miss meeting a dozen or so times. What's the point? You know they'll eventually find each other and make sweet love down by the fire. To liven things up, each has their own comedic sidekick (Osmosis Jones' Molly Shannon and The Family Man's Jeremy Piven) to aid in their seemingly impossible effort. Piven plays Jonathan's best man, which is somewhat scary considering his hijinks at the bachelor party in Very Bad Things.
It's no surprise to learn Serendipity's contrived screenplay came from Marc Klein, whose biggest previous foray into feature film was working as an assistant on the equally syrupy While You Were Sleeping. Director Peter Chelsom continues his downward slide since helming the enjoyable Funny Bones (he followed that with The Mighty and Town and Country). The best parts of the film revolve around Eugene Levy (American Pie 2), who logs a memorable performance as an uptight Bloomingdale's salesman.
1:25 - PG-13 for a scene of sexuality, and for brief language
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