The Love Letter
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| The Love Letter | |
|---|---|
 theatrical poster |
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| Directed by | Peter Chan |
| Produced by | Kate Capshaw Sarah Pillsbury Midge Sanford |
| Written by | Cathleen Schine (novel) Maria Maggenti (screenplay) |
| Starring | Kate Capshaw Blythe Danner Ellen DeGeneres Tom Selleck |
| Music by | Luis Enríquez Bacalov |
| Cinematography | Tami Reiker |
| Editing by | Jacqueline Cambas |
| Distributed by | Dreamworks |
| Release date(s) | May 21, 1999 |
| Running time | 88 minutes |
| Country |  United States |
| Language | English |
| Budget | $15,000,000 |
| Gross revenue | $8,276,228 (USA) |
| All Movie Guide profile | |
| IMDb profile | |
The Love Letter is a 1999 film directed by Peter Chan and starring Kate Capshaw. It is based on the novel by Cathleen Schine. It takes place in the town of Loblolly-by-the-Sea.
[edit] Synopsis
It begins with Helen MacFarquhar (Capshaw), a middle-aged bookseller, who has recently divorced. She, after sending her daughter off to summer camp, is ready to die. Her nagging ex is trying to convince her to pay for some of their daughter's activities. She, on the other hand, just wants him to leave her alone. But one morning, as she is going through the mail, she discovers an anonymous blue love letter, without an envelope and a name. Having discovered this letter in her mail, in her bookstore, she thinks it is for her. But the only question is, who is it from? At first she thinks it is from George, the fireman of Loblolly, but decides it couldn't be him, after trying to give him subtle hints ("have you ever been 'on fire?'") Not having any idea who may be the writer of this fiery letter, she just puts it away in her purse and tries to forget about it. Then, Johnny, a college kid who has a summer job working in Helen's bookstore, is invited to her house for dinner. Helen, not knowing what to make, buys ready-made marinara sauce. She puts two wine glasses and a bottle next to her purse, which has the letter in it. By mistake, and not noticing it, Helen accidentally knocks the letter out of the purse. While in the kitchen cooking, she tells Johnny to have some wine. Johnny comes across the letter, and is struck by it. He thinks it is from Helen! Later that night, he begins to "peel an orange", a line in the letter. Seeing his hint, Helen rushes into the house and says goodnight. Johnny leaves. In the next few weeks, Johnny and Helen meet and begin an affair.
Helen goes to the bookstore, and brings the letter with her. She leaves her purse on the desk. Then, Helen's manager, Janet (played by Ellen DeGeneres), arrives. Helen decides not to tell her about the letter just yet. While she is upstairs working, George comes in with new smoke detectors for the store. Janet accepts them, but the desk collapses, along with Helen's purse, which contains the letter. In all the chaos, the letter is mixed in with the instruction manuals for the smoke detectors. George, before leaving, says "Make sure you read the manuals first." Then, Janet opens the manual, and the letter falls out. She reads it and thinks it is from George. Later that day, Janet rushes over to tell Helen about the letter. But Helen, not knowing how to say it, just takes it and says "It's mine". Janet, angry at Helen for not having faith in her happiness, quits her job as manager.
