The Love Letter

I saw this movie on a plane without the sound track. Even then it held me spell-bound. What a premiss, a love affair between a civil war beauty and a contemporary man. Great inventiveness and well acted too.

My wife and I were very tired, after a long day of work and coming home from dancing. We decided to have a quick look at the TV movie I taped, to see if it was worth keeping. What a surprise: it kept us awake late at night, in spite of our tiredness. A lovely movie!

There are a few annoying flaws. The music at the beginning was out-of-date and I don't know how the director let a few shoddy scenes slip by, but they were probably on a tight budget. These are mainly due a script that, while generally good, was too stilted in parts. However, considering this is a made4TV movie, it is exceptionally good.

So get your loved one, cuddle up, and have let some warmth into your hearts with this little gem.

"The Love Letter" was written by Jack Finney. If you are familiar with his classic time-travel novel "Time And Again", you will definitely love this TV version of his short-story "The Love Letter".

The leads are very competent. Campbell Scott, for those who don't know, is the son of the late George C. Scott...one of America's Greatest Actor's. Campbell has come into his own, and does very well. Jennifer Jason Leigh and Daphne Ashbrook are perfect as the female time-travel counterparts.

Remember: this IS a fantasy. But a beautifully constructed one at that. If you've ever wanted to reach back into the past for a long-lost love, this story will surely tug at your heart strings. And the ending is "just right" and very touching in its own way...there may not be a dry eye in the room when it's over with. And that's okay.

PS: Jack Finney also wrote one of the greatest Sci-Fi Thrillers of all-time: "The Invasion of the Body Snatchers". In addition, if you like "The Love Letter" and want more of the same, treat yourself to the above-mentioned "Time And Again" ! Time-Travel, Romance, Mystery, Fantasy...all wrapped-up in the full-blown novel that has become a true Cult Classic.

Unknown in Europe, this movie was recommended by someone from the States and I certainly wasn't disappointed once I'd received the DVD and watched it! On a par with "Somewhere in Time" and similar in some respects to "A Message from Charity" which was one of the "New Twilight Zone" episodes, this film is beautifully made and a real pleasure to watch over and over again. In fact nowadays, many of these so-called "TV Movies" are actually better than those made for the cinema !!

Plots in time-travel movies cannot of course be logical but this film had a very reasonable and believable plot ( bar, of course the way the letters were supposed to travel in time ) but when you watch films of this nature, there is no point in worrying about details of that kind.

The sets and picture quality were magnificent and I found the ending totally satisfactory although I would have perhaps wished the movie to continue on so that we see romance developing between Campbell Scott and the lady in the cemetery. I had already seen Campbell Scott in a film called 'Dying Young ' and do like this actor very much. This film was just suited to me as I don't really like time-travel movies with tons of special effects as they dont really appear believable ! So I hope people will make more movies like this because at present it is true that they are rather thin on the ground. And we do need doses of romantic fantasy to whisk us out and above of the dreariness of modern life !!

I first saw The Love Letter on Hallmark Hall Of Fame in 1998. I found it to be the most fascinating love story I had ever seen. As much as I was impressed, I gave it little thought until recently when I ran across a copy of it at the library. I took it home and lost count of the number of times I played it. Each time, I found something new and experienced a different emotion. Maybe because of this story, I've become very interested in the Civil War and spend much time doing research on the subject. I had to get the video and I have.

Back to the story...Jennifer Jason Leigh and Campbell Scott are both great actors. They make you believe that they are the characters they portray. With them, you run the gamut of Scott's and Lizzie's emotions, the strongest being their love for each other. This romantic fantasy is one I would recommend to anyone who has the ability to remove themselves from this world and retreat to the fantasies of this story. They will never forget it. Watch it when there is no distractions.