The Love Letter

Plot synopsis:
Helen MacFarquhar (Kate Capshaw), a middle-aged bookseller, having recently divorced and after sending her daughter off to summer camp, and her nagging ex-husband trying to convince her to pay for some of their daughter's activities is ready to move on to the next stage in her life. 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 naturally thinks it is for her. But the only question is, who is it from? At first, she thinks it is from George Matthias, the local fireman, 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 the love letter, she just puts it away in her purse and tries to forget about it.
Then, Johnny, a college student who has a summer job working in Helen's bookstore, is invited to her house for dinner. During dinner 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 mistakenly thinks it is from Helen! Later that night, he begins to "peel an orange", a line from 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, each thinking the other wrote the letter.
Helen goes to the bookstore, and brings the letter with her. She leaves her purse on the desk. Then, Helen's manager, Janet Hall (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.
As the story progresses, many others accidentally find the letter and mistake its meant for them. During the affair, Johnny uses a friend Jennifer's affections for him to make Helen jealous. However, she's disheartened to realize he was using her. An officer also finds a letter, thinking it was from a lady he admires; takes the letter and presents it to her on a date. But his date thinks he wrote the letter for her. As the affair goes on, Johnny's feelings deepen, and becomes jealous of Helen's closeness with George. He continues to try and push for a real relationship; however Helen's torn with her feelings for George. When it comes to a boiling point, the pair realize that neither side wrote the love letter. Helen also realizes that George still loved her when she finds a message he left in a postcard.
And the two break up on amiable terms. Unfortunately, George hears the breakup and is left heartbroken and confused. Though his divorced is finalized, he feels he's lost Helen to Johnny. However, Helen isn't ready to let go of her feelings for George and asks if it really is over. George quietly replies "They have bad timing" and announces he's taking his daughters to New York. Though Helen wants him to stay, he seems determined to leave. The next day, Helen reveals to George that she never read the inside message he left. She also declares that she still wants to keep in contact with him. Hinting that the two still want to continue their relationship, George smiles and says he'll send a "postcard".
Amidst all the confusion, it is revealed that the letter was actually written by Helen's mother's lover, another woman. Early in her life, Helen's mother fell in love with a woman who wrote her a letter expressing her love. Considering the conservative time period and social stigma, the relationship was never to be, but Helen's mom had kept the letter to help her remember her past. All the confusion is cleared up and Helen connects with her mom when she tells her about her past affair.

Tags: romantic

Review:
I had to get the video and I have.Back to the story...Jennifer Jason Leigh and Campbell Scott are both great actors.
Jennifer Jason Leigh and Daphne Ashbrook are perfect as the female time-travel counterparts.Remember: this IS a fantasy.
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.
In addition, if you like "The Love Letter" and want more of the same, treat yourself to the above-mentioned "Time And Again" !
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..
Though the actual traveling in this movie is mostly by way of a seemingly "magic" desk and an unusually efficient U.S. Mail service (Wouldn't that be nice?), it nevertheless fell within my realm of my fascination.I won't recap the story, as the IMDb does a good job of that already.
It is a love story and I found myself very drawn into it, even with it's implausible premise -- but, we must remember that this movie IS a "fantasy" and it should be viewed with that in mind.
I happened to catch THE LOVE LETTER on cable one rainy afternoon and by the end of the movie I had gone through an entire box of Kleenex.
Whenever you watch a time travel movie or read that type of book, you really have to learn to suspend disbelief, but the way this movie was handled it seemed so possible.
"The Love Letter" is a deeply touching, wonderful film.
Miss Leigh and Mr. Campbell are Elizabeth and Scott...across time, in the present, in the past, wherever they are!I think that the thing that I like most about this film is the Civil War time period, that Scotty's letters travel back to, and the fact that he and Elizabeth are so believable in their actions and reactions.
Both actors: Campbell Scott and Jennifer Jason Leigh are very good in the movie.
I LOVED this movie (my wife did also) and I just now clicked through to Amazon.com to buy it for our personal collection.
This is a gorgeous movie and a lovely and well told story.
This is a very intertwined story of the unfulfilled love between a civil war soldier and Elizabeth.
I would love to elaborate on the story but I do not want to give it way, because of those have not seen it yet.
write soon before the law of nature reset themselves." "You have no right to get involved in a life that has already lived." Lizzie:  "Tell me what it means to light up like a Christmas tree." Scotty: " Ben Franklin invented electricity to glow like a Christmas tree is to glow with pleasure." Favorite Scene: The dog at the cemetery ....
It really says something when a TV station like the Hallmark station can fund a better, more emotional and memorable film than 99% of the tripe that passes for entertainment today in the movie theaters.
Filmed on location in Virginia (not Massachusetts where it is supposed to take place), and even showcasing a wonderful re-enactment of the battle of Gettysburg, and a charming, believable cast, it just captivates you immediately and you are drawn into its time travel plot device without any problem.
It's probably most similar to "Somewhere In Time" that way, which was also lovely to look at, and boasted those period locations and authentic dress.Campbell Scott was superb as Scotty, who buys an antique desk complete with old love letters addressed to a "mystery man" from the 1860's.
Jennifer Jason Leigh was lovely as Elizabeth Whitcomb, and you feel for her character all the way.
Wonderful.If I would change anything I would have had the film end with the grave scene, and not with the girl and her dog, to do otherwise is to suggest that Scotty won't be as faithful to Elizabeth as she was to him.10 out of 10.Addition: And to the commentator janeellen, above, who was critical of my review, I would add that even if the story was trying to suggest reincarnation, it doesn't work, and it makes the story less poignant to insist on it.
I was at home last night and saw this movie starting and I was hooked from start to finish and I can say it is the best romance movie I have seen for a very long time.
I rarely leave comments about movies on the IMDB, but after reading the comments from the Norway guy, I just had to respond; (Of course everyone is entitled to their opinion) But I feel this is a beautiful film, well acted and by far better than the short story by Jack Finney on which it is based.
Strong, impressive acting from both Campbell Scott and Jennifer Jason Leigh drive this movie far beyond what the story itself can do.
There is much the same attraction here that there is between them in "Mrs. Parker and the Vicious Circle."  Both Leigh and Scott give the best performances that I have seen on TV in a long time.
This is a lovely movie -- the story is well-thought and although it seems tortuous, they pull it off nicely and make it entirely believable.
But after I saw 'The Love Letter' movie, I know that I was wrong.
Her acting ability is tops.Campbell Scott's love for her was clearly evident, even though there was no interaction between them for most of the movie.
Stellar acting on his part also.The story was quite logical for fantasy and was easily followed.I only wish there was someplace to retrieve the poem from the movie if indeed it was more than just the one line "Stranger, not on this earth shall we meet..."I can't say enough good things about this film.
1 of the Best Romantic movies is Hallmark's The Love Letter.
The movie The Love Letter from Hallmark is one of the best Romantic & intriguing films I've ever seen!
This film requires you to accept that letters can move through time.If you will just accept this and your romantic,you like New England in autumn then just sit back and enjoy.
The male lead is already engaged at the start but in the correspondence crossings back over 130 years he sees that there is something missing which is the same that his correspondent yearns for.The correspondence is started by his encountering a secret letter written in 1863 put in a bureau he bought which once belonged to a 29 year old lady who wrote the letter and hid it dreaming of a lover she longed to exist and come into her life.He replies using contemporary writing paper,ink and stamps the post box being a long surviving one.The letter reaches the writer who following the shock replies by leaving replies in the drawer.Falling in love he encourages her to continue her poetry.The story involves tragedy in the civil war but in the end the ending is in the present.Watchers may miss the last words with the music but it only confirms the situation.Now where can I find a bureau such as the one used.
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 !
If you are a romantic you are in for a treat when you watch this film.Campbell Scott and Jennifer Jason Leigh play two people who fall in love by corresponding with one another.
I consider myself a student of cinema but I have always had a soft spot for a good, well done love story- and this movie comes through on most fronts!
The acting by Jennifer Jason Leigh and Campbell Scott is first rate and the story so beautifully told that you don't notice its few shortcomings in plot.
When Scott asks Lizzie to send a picture to him and that he wants her to look as if she is about to walk into his arms- I cry every time.
I would think it owes much of its success to Jennifer Jason Leigh and Campbell Scott-- they're both so charming in their roles and are fully committed to making this fantastical story ring true.
Based on the wonderful Jack Finney short story of the same name from his collection I LOVE GALESBURG IN THE SPRINGTIME (also in ABOUT TIME), the screenplay has been 'stretched', logically and positively, to include additional material to make a fully-fleshed movie.
Well directed and well acted, a couple of hours spent viewing this movie will enthrall you and you'll almost certainly want to watch it several times..
Beautiful Story, Love at it's timeless end.
It definitely was one of the Ageless Love Stories that I hope will continue to grace our Television for many years to come.
A lovely, warm, romantic, sad, corny movie with great acting (David Dukes- War and Remembrance - was a marvelous pompous suitor).
But Gettysburg, a hundred plus year old woman once a beautiful girl, the Civil War, a confused guy who invents computer games , was so oddball, that I loved it..
To escape into a fine fantasy romance, see this movie, and feel good about it.
Campbell Scott and Jennifer Jason Leigh are great together and should do other films together.
When I first saw this film in Hallmark Channel way back in 1999 or 2000 (I'm not sure about the year), I was in an internet romance/long-distance relationship.
I was so fascinated with the movie since I somehow saw myself as Scott Corrigan (Campbell Scott) in that story (exchanging romantic messages).
Every time I wrote my email messages to my internet romance, I was always watching this movie (the TV is located near my computer table).
I don't have much patience for romantic love stories but I said okay, I'll stick with it for a while.What a brilliant effort all the way around.
A great movie...not really..but a great love story YES.
As I watched my mind stepped back 65 years wondering if somehow I could connect with my first love...you know that 4th grade little girl that sat in front of you with long hair that you just couldn't keep from touching.
Even today I see her as she was 65 years ago...loving her as much today as I did then..Crazy , huh If you haven't seen the movie ..don't miss another day..
A definite tearjerker, the movie is not flawless, it will leave you with a few questions, mostly analytical questions concerning plot points, but I would still recommend the film, and if you enjoy movies like this, here are some others I would love to recommend.1.
If you like romantic movies and one with a twist, you should fall in love with this one..
This movie, The Love Letter" is one of my all time favorite television favorites.
I really loved it...This movie had everything in a plot that I like in a movie...romance, history, and a mysterious twist..what more could one ask for?
Campbell Scott and Jennifer Jason Leigh are such amazing actors.
Although made in 1998, I only first saw the movie on television last year, but I bought a copy and have enjoyed it ever since.
As I say, it ranks up there as one of my all-time favorite television romantic movies.
Just watched this movie for the first time, and it was just so romantic.
I always know I will enjoy a Hallmark movie, they give me such pleasure to watch them.
The performance of Campbell Scott and Jennifer Jason Leigh, you couldn't have picked better actors.
I'm not sure I believe anyone that says they like romance, but does not this movie.
People falling in love with a kindred spirit is unbelievably exciting in its own way.As to some feeling that it is a betrayal for Scotty to feel attraction for Beth at the end of the movie, I heartily disagree.
Her only false note was when she meekly departed from the leading man's life without seeking legal damages or showing any other shrewish, vindictive behavior - leaving him free to pursue a modern-day Jennifer Jason Leigh, sunken-eyed and anorexic, looking even more ill than she did before.In all other ways, though, this was a workmanlike production; J Henerson did an excellent job of recreating 19th-century language, both written and spoken, and Dorothy Amos' 19th-century costumes were wonderfully done.Nonetheless, given the choice of introductions, I would recommend Jack Finney's original story over this - it is beautifully written and leaves no loose ends hanging..
The plot was excellent - a love that literally transcends time and brings two made-for-each-other people together, indeed an excellent plot which has been dealt with in the past and with a better impact than what this movie delivered.
All said and done, watch this movie if you like romance but don't expect too much..
This is not 'true love' , but just wishful thinking.I must point out that it was indeed a clean movie and that is why I will give it 6 stars..
The ending was perfect, but yet you did not want it to end, and that the story would go on, and show the romance develop between the Scott Denby character and the girl he meets in the graveyard, (Beth), who is like Elizabeth Whitcomb, his link to the past.
The scenes where Scotty and Elizabeth were acting out their "communion through letters" was so right that I wished the movie had continued in this vein.
All I read was the synopsis to know that this was a movie I had to see.Low and behold, I was able to watch and could not help but love the story.
Jennifer Jason Leigh (Elizabeth) and Campbell Scott (Scotty) were able to capture my attention throughout the entire movie.
I watched the special featurette on the DVD and found their fondness and admiration for each other to be one of the main reasons they work so well together in this film and therefore making the romance between the two very believable.Mr. Scott was able to play Scotty and Colonel Caleb Denby with such conviction that it's no wonder Elizabeth fell in love with both men and I cannot imagine anyone but Leigh playing the role of Elizabeth.SPOILER ALERT!!!Alright, no surprise here, if you have read other reviews, you will know that Elizabeth becomes the reincarnated Beth.
Just as Caleb had become Scotty.The ending scene when he sees her made me cry because even though time separated Elizabeth and Scotty, love did not.
The fact that Beth shows up in the very place Elizabeth is buried is fitting and right because both Elizabeth and Scotty and have come full circle and even though Elizabeth's reincarnation has no idea what is going on, I have no doubt in my mind that they ended up together, bought the house in Willoughby and live happily ever after.It may seem far fetched, but I believe that Scotty's told Beth and his kids this story a million times.
If you are true romantic at heart, love American Civil War history and love the idea world of time travel then I strongly recommend you watch this movie.I give it a 9/10 because I wished there would have been more time with the reincarnated Lizzie.
I saw this movie, for the first time, on our TV here recently.
Still, I suppose correct mathematics don't really matter in an item of fiction.Despite the above comment, I very much enjoyed this movie, would love to see it again, would recommend it to anyone who likes a good love story, and yes, I WILL be buying the DVD.GOOD, CLEAN ENTERTAINMENT through and through; for which reason, I gave it 10/10.
Of course, Scott tries to change history, and sends warning, just in time to see his magical post office go up in flames, but his love for Lizzie pushes him through the fire, and he gets the letter off.
The ending is a nice wrap up, with Scott ending up with Lizzie's works, publishing them, and visiting her grave, only to be bowled over by a dog that happens to be owned by a women who just so happens to look exactly like Lizzie.Sowhy do I love this movie?
But, girls, if you are in that mood where all you want to do is eat chocolate and watch movies that will make you cry, The Love Letter is a must..
Love this movie!
It has to be one of the best romantic movies I have watched in a long time!
I enjoy watching fictional love stories which I believe this is!
It's a much more believable ending than sending him back in time or sending her forward, but it's not so sad as to have him die to come to her.To sum up, the Love Letter is a sappy, soppy, touching movie about two individuals who find themselves at an impasse.
I admit I saw the movie just because of Jennifer Jason Leigh, that wonderful creature.