The Love Letter (1999)
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33% of critics liked it
(51 reviews) -
36% of users liked it
(7,955 ratings)
Helen (Kate Capshaw) runs a bookstore in Loblolly By The Sea, a small fishing community in New England where everyone seems to know everyone else's business. A 42-year-old single mother, she is emotionally distant and fearful of getting too close to anyone. George (Tom Selleck) has known Helen… More Helen (Kate Capshaw) runs a bookstore in Loblolly By The Sea, a small fishing community in New England where everyone seems to know everyone else's business. A 42-year-old single mother, she is emotionally distant and fearful of getting too close to anyone. George (Tom Selleck) has known Helen since they were schoolmates, and he's been in love with her for ages, but has always settled for just being her friend. Convinced she wasn't interested in him, he married another woman years ago. Helen also has another secret admirer, Johnny (Tom Everett Scott), who isn't at all put off by the fact that Helen is twice his age. Johnny, however, is currently occupied with Jennifer (Julianne Nicholson), a fellow student who also works at the bookstore and is crazy about him. Into this tangled web of unrequited love comes an amorous letter that Helen finds in the store one day. The letter bears no signature and no address; it's at once passionate and oblique, fervent and cryptic. It's very interesting stuff. So who wrote it? And to whom was the writer planning to send it? Before long, the letter has made its way through this circle, and everyone has an idea (or a hope) of who their secret love is, although no one knows for sure or just how to find out. The Love Letter marked the American debut of director Peter Ho-Sun Chan, who enjoyed success in Hong Kong with Comrades: Almost A Love Story and He's A Woman, She's A Man. The supporting cast includes Ellen DeGeneres, Blythe Danner, and Gloria Stuart. The Love Letter may be best remembered as the only major studio film to open the same week as Star Wars: Episode One -- The Phantom Menace. ~ Mark Deming, Rovi
- Directed By
- Peter Chan
- Genres
- Comedy, Romance
- In Theaters
- May 21, 1999 Wide
- Studio
- Dreamworks
Critic Reviews
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Jay Carr, Boston Globe
The Love Letter transports the recipe from Hollywood to New England and turns it into the kind of flavorful clambake that defines summer escapist entertainment.
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Susan Stark, Detroit News
A scattershot account of unexpected, confusing romantic love that spreads like a virus!
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Mark Caro, Chicago Tribune
Although the movie's affection for its characters is refreshing, none of them stirs our passions.
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Michael Dequina, TheMovieReport.com
To call this 'a romantic comedy-drama' is to imply an involving emotional core and a witty sense of humor that simply aren't there.
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Fresh (60% or more critics rated the movie positively)
Rotten (59% or fewer critics rated the movie positively)
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Cast
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Kate Capshaw
as Helen
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Blythe Danner
as Lillian
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Tom Selleck
as George
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Ellen DeGeneres
as Janet
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Tom Everett Scott
as Johnny
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Geraldine McEwan
as Miss Scattergoods
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Julianne Nicholson
as Jennifer
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Gloria Stuart
as Eleanor
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Bill Buell
as Officer Dan
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Alice Drummond
as Postal Clerk
- Lucas Hall

