SERENDIPITY (2001). 2 1/2 stars out of 4. Starring John Cusack, Kate Beckinsale, Jeremy Piven, Molly Shannon, John Corbett, Bridget Moynahan and Eugene Levy. Written by Marc Klein. Directed by Peter Chelsom. Rated PG-13. Approx. 85 mins.
Serendipity. What an apt title for a contemporary romantic comedy set in a magical, fairy tale New York.
Yet through circumstances far beyond its control, this movie may stand as a poignant reminder of what New York once was and may someday be again.
It is difficult to watch this sweet outing without thinking about the horrors that hit the Big Apple. Luckily, no scenes take place at the World Trade Center, and it is only glimpsed for a second in an opening shot panorama of the city.
Yet its loss weighs heavily on this movie.
Because for now the wound is too fresh. It is difficult to think of New York as a city of romance and love, when daily television reminds us of the death and destruction that wounded its core.
Serendipity has become a slice of nostalgia before it even hits the theaters.
The movie is one of those cute-meet, boy-girl stories that can only happen on the big screen. John (John Cusack) and Sara (Kate Beckinsale) meet over the glove counter at Bloomingdales when both try to purchase the same pair of gloves for their respective paramours.
They soon forget about the gloves and spend a magical evening roaming the city, from Rockefeller Center to Central Park, luxuriating in each other's company. It is love at first sight - or is it. Sara is a big believer in fate. She tells John that if it is their destiny to be together, that they will find each other again. She writes her name and phone number in a book, which she then sells at a second-hand bookshop.
John, meanwhile, writes his name and number on $5 bill, which Sara spends. Her logic - which, of course, is only credible in the movies - is that if they are destined for each other, the $5 will come back to her, and John will eventually find the book containing her name and number.
A few years pass, and it is the weekend of John's wedding. But, something is nagging at him, so he recruits his best friend, Dean (Jeremy Piven), and they begin seeking Sara.
Sara, who has moved to San Francisco, also is soon to be married. Her betrothed is a self-absorbed New Age musician, Lars (John Corbett). She, too, decides to go searching and shanghai's her best friend, Eve (Molly Shannon), and whisks her off to New York.
You can already guess how all this turns out.
As usual, Cusack turns in a winning performance as the young romantic who - no matter how hard he tries - cannot erase that one special night from his mind. Cusack is one of those actors who - even with such routine material as Serendipity - can transform the material into more than it is. If Cusack was a chef, he could change ground beef into filet mignon.
Beckinsale is charming and resourceful as Sara. She is a lovely actress, easy on the eyes. A nice chemistry develops between her and Cusack.
One minor objection is the sort of heartless manner in which John and Sara just dump their prospective life partners at the last minute. It detracts from the characters, giving them an air of unfeeling selfishness and self-centeredness.
Neither's intended really seems to deserve such an emotionally painful departure. Wisely for director Peter Chelsom both breakups occur off-screen.
Serendipity is a warm vessel with likable stars and an escapist story. If you don't think too much about its setting, it is an enjoyable diversion.
Bob Bloom is the film critic at the Journal and Courier in Lafayette, IN. He can be reached by e-mail at bloom@journal-courier.com or at bobbloom@iquest.net. Other reviews by Bloom can be found by going to www.jconline.com and clicking on golafayette. Bloom's reviews also can be found on the Web at the Internet Movie Database: http://www.imdb.com/M/reviews_by?Bob+Bloom
========== X-RAMR-ID: 29717 X-Language: en X-RT-ReviewID: 253558 X-RT-TitleID: 1110303 X-RT-SourceID: 872 X-RT-AuthorID: 1363 X-RT-RatingText: 2.5/4
The review above was posted to the
rec.arts.movies.reviews newsgroup (de.rec.film.kritiken for German reviews).
The Internet Movie Database accepts no responsibility for the contents of the
review and has no editorial control. Unless stated otherwise, the copyright
belongs to the author.
Please direct comments/criticisms of the review to relevant newsgroups.
Broken URLs inthe reviews are the responsibility of the author.
The formatting of the review is likely to differ from the original due
to ASCII to HTML conversion.
Related links: index of all rec.arts.movies.reviews reviews