Love Letter [DVD] [1999] [Region 1] [US Import] [NTSC]

Its ads portrayed The Love Letter as a wacky farce, while critics largely ignored it, presuming it to be a vanity project from Kate Capshaw (better known as Mrs. Steven Spielberg). But The Love Letter is neither; on the contrary, it's a low-key but surprisingly rich and touching film about love, illusions, and regret. Helen (Capshaw), a bookseller in a small seashore town, discovers an unsigned love letter that's fallen into the cushions of a couch in her store. The letter doesn't say who it's for, but Helen assumes it's for her and starts wondering who sent it. One would expect this to lead to a whirling comedy of mistaken identities, but after some amusing daydream moments, the movie follows its story with subtlety and nuance. The characters behave according to their own needs and desires, rather than the demands of standard Hollywood goofiness. The performances--from a cast including Tom Selleck, Tom Everett Scott, Ellen DeGeneres, newcomer Julianne Nicholson, and others--are uniformly unforced and natural. Viewers weary of the hyped-up, absurd emotional climaxes of most so-called romantic comedies will find a respite here. The Love Letter is a genuinely charming film. --Bret Fetzer, Amazon.com