'Serendipity'

Submitted on April 03, 2002

Tom Kavanaugh

"Serendipity," the new release from Miramax Films, offers something we haven't seen in a while - not since "Sleepless In Seattle." It is an unabashedly romantic comedy that hinges upon coincidence, or "fortunate accident" in a most disarming way. And like "Sleepless," "Serendipity" contains a musical score that is eclectic, cross-generational and memorable, an intelligent screenplay that is funny as well as whimsical, and a pair of "star tossed" lovers. But the similarities end there. "Serendipity's" story opens on Christmas Eve, that most magical night when expectations run high and we're just waiting for something wonderful to happen. For Jonathan Trager (John Cusack) and Sara Thomas (Kate Beckinsale), what is waiting is true love, and it couldn't come at a less convenient time. They meet by chance over a pair of black cashmere gloves at Bloomingdale's in Manhattan that each wants to purchase as a gift for their intended. They are polite but insistent, then suddenly drawn together when a third party almost snatches the gloves from both of them. In a chivalrous gesture, Jonathan insists Sara keep the gloves. When he suggests they meet again, she demurs, saying that now is not a good time and that if they are meant to meet again fate will draw them together. As a test she has Jonathan write his phone number on a five dollar bill and without looking at it spends it, sending the bill into circulation where, if they are truly meant to be together, it will come back to Sara at some time in the future. Similarly, she writes her number (and last name) on the flap of a popular book she's been carrying and tells Jonathan she will sell it to a second-hand book store; if Jonathan happens to find it some day when he's passing by a book store he was meant to give her a call. What follows is a series of funny, sometimes frustrating events. Cusack is perfect for his part, and the result is a romantic comedy that is really comic as well as romantic. Beckinsale, who was last seen in "Pearl Harbor," is a real star on the rise in a career-building performance. The supporting cast is strong as well with a good supply of comic actors: "Saturday Night Live's" Molly Shannon plays Eve, Sara's girlfriend who reads Tarot cards but doesn't believe in any of it. "Ellen's" Jeremy Piven plays Jonathan's best friend Dean who seems to have the perfect "made in heaven" marriage, and "SCTV's" Eugene Levy has a small but very funny role as a Bloomingdale's salesman. All of this helps elevate a good script by Mark Klein (making his big-screen debut) in a first-rate comedy. Altogether, it is a good job of directing, pacing, editing and planning by director Peter Chelsom ("Town and Country," "Hear My Song"), which indicates that "Serendipity" may have had a bit of good fortune working for it, but probably not by accident. The movie is rated adults by the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops.