Serendipity – n. the faculty of making happy and unexpected discoveries by accident – coined by Sir Horace Walpole (1754) after the heroes of a Persian (today’s Iran) fairy taleThe Three Princes of Serendip who made such discoveries. (Serendip is the ancient name of Sri Lanka)
The Movie
Boy meets girl, part, long for each other, search begins, climax – Fortunate Accident a.k.a serendipity plays its role.
The Cast, Credits
Character: Stars
---------------------------------------------------------
Jonathon Trager: John Cusack
Jonathon’s friend: Jeremy Piven
Hallie, Jonathon’s fiancée: Bridget Moynahan
---------------------------------------------------------
Sarah Thomas: Kate Beckinsale
Sarah’s friend: Molly Shannon
Lars, Sarah’s fiancé : John Corbett
---------------------------------------------------------
Department Store salesman: Eugene Levy
Director: Peter Chelsom
The Plot
During the rush of holiday sale, 1990 in New York, strangers Jonathon and Sarah together reach for the last (Cynic: Obviously, as if they don’t stock enough gloves in winter) pair of gloves in a crowded store. The meeting leads them to Sarah’s favourite restaurant “Serendipity”. There she explains it to mean “Fortunate Accident”, they part – but meet each other again when they return to take back things they had left at the restaurant(Cynic:Moral:Forgetfulness can help you find your soul mate) . It becomes a discovery of love, (Cynic:What attracted them to each other ? – his dung smelling cologne, her hairstyle ?) and they spend the night around the city(Cynic: What a way to waste a night ;-) ) . When they part, Sarah decides to leave it to fate and writes his number on a 5 dollar note, which she uses to buy mints(Cynic: Probability of finding that note – one in a billion in real life, one in five in reel life) . Sarah leaves her number on the first page of a book “Love in the time of Cholera” (Cynic:Cholera, how romantic) and says she will sell it at a used-books store. Years pass away, and when they are about to tie the knot to different persons, they decide it is time they should give each other a chance. (Cynic: Why did fate play such a game with their would-be’s – how would the story sound, if the director decided to shoot it from their point of view ?) The search begins there. After a lots of running around, twists and turns, they find each other and live happily blah blah….
Highlights:
It is one of those cotton candy movies from the Hollywood. The concept of fate playing its hand is not new to Hollywood movies – remember Sleepless in Seattle. Cusack & Beckinsale successfully project the same vibes Billy Crystal and Meg Ryan or Tom Hanks and Meg Ryan did. But the movie is not enjoyable because of this alone, the supporting cast – Piven as Cusack’s friend, Levy’s salesman, Molly as Beckinsale’s friend - all make it more enjoyable. Piven’s real-life friendship with Cusack also projects onto the screen. Levy has his own share of scenes, which he makes endearable with his quick wit. There are some of the splendid shots of New York during the holiday season that are worth-seeing.
Verdict:
If you have lost faith in miracles/fate, you should see it :-).
P.S.: For a personal note, see the comments section too
P.P.S.: This review was written by me (Nathan), myself (Cynic) and no Irene ;-). ( Lucky reader, imagine reading comments from Irene too, in this small review – whoooo !!!!)