The Love Letter

Brand NewStarring Campbell Scott and Jennifer Jason LeighRunning Time: 98 minutesTranscending the dimension of time, a love letter found in an antique desk magically seals the fate of two young people linked by destiny, yet separated by more than 100 years. A young man discovers a letter written by a mysterious woman named Lizzie, who lived long ago, and feels compelled to write to her. Correspondence ensues and grows into a love so powerful not even the years can keep them apart. Spanning the Civil War to the present, the perils of Lizzie's war-torn situation threaten her safe passage into the future. Will their love endure the test of time? No one with romantic tendencies will be able to resist The Love Letter. Campbell Scott plays a Civil War buff who buys a desk from that era. While polishing it, he discovers a secret compartment, in which sits an unmailed letter--a letter written by a young woman named Lizzie (Jennifer Jason Leigh) over a century earlier. Touched by her yearning for passion, he writes her back, egged on by his mystically inclined mother (Estelle Parsons). Magically his letter reaches Lizzie and they begin a correspondence that threatens Scott's impending marriage but promises to bring fulfilment to Lizzie. The Love Letter is absurd, yet somehow that doesn't stop it from being completely engaging and even moving. Scott and Parsons are solid, while Jason Leigh is downright rapturous--the movie may owe its success to her. The plot has surprising twists and the conclusion is sweet and satisfying. An unexpected pleasure. --Bret Fetzer