User reviews

Two storylines (past + present) CAN work in films but it's a delicate balance. Honestly, the present day romance should have dropped and the 1960s story should have been the focus. As it were, the present day story tried to be a rom-com which wasn't very funny and the 1960s got shortchanged with too many montage sequences to tell the story instead of actual scenes. Montages don't build feelings for the characters! Cinematography and costumes and lighting in the 1960s story was gorgeous. A lot of potential here, but it should have been a limited series instead of a movie in order to do the book justice.

7/10 - sweet intertwined romance stories may not change your life, but will certainly entertain the hopeless romantics out there and fans of Felicity Jones and or Shailene Woodley (of which I count myself as both)

It's 1965 London. Jennifer Stirling (Shailene Woodley) returns home to her husband Laurence (Joe Alwyn) after a stay in the hospital. They're wealthy from the stuffy upper crust of society. It's a loveless and childless marriage. He's controlling and she's pining for escape. The couple goes on vacation. Reporter Anthony O'Hare (Callum Turner) arrives to interview Laurence. In modern day London, Ellie Haworth (Felicity Jones) is a dissatisfied single gal. She's been assigned to write a bio for a former editor of her paper. She had recently died and left her archival material with the paper. Ellie finds a mysterious love letter which intrigues her to investigate further.

I like the start. It has good potential although the back and forth in time period always held a danger to the narrative flow. One side or the other could falter and stall the entire movie. To me, the emotional high point is the dinner early in the movie. This is a movie about Jennifer seeking independence from Laurence more than about a love story between Jennifer and Anthony. On top of that, they do the Love Affair turn going to meet on top of the Empire State Building. I'm disappointed that they're doing this old trope. Quite frankly, I'd rather have him die and she has to find independence by herself. The other side has a smaller issue for me. I want Rory to be more. They try to do the combative meet-cute between Ellie and Rory but he doesn't hold up his side of the bargain. He's too weak to fight back. This is an old style romance and there is nothing wrong with that. It's simply not anything more than passable.

So good to see a feel good ol hollywood romantic drama after such a long time. They don't make these kinda movies any more for theatres and the ones they make for streaming are usually bad and they look and feel like a TV movie. But this one doesn't, this looks like it was made for big screen and it had all the charm the feel that these movies used to give us 15 years ago.

Not much to say about the story. Its slow but intriguing. Shailene Woodley is wonderful on screen and felicity jones is a delight.

I wish I had watched this before reading the book because I think I could have really enjoyed it more. I LOVED the book...devoured it in two days...so it was tough to see it essentially butchered by the movie. I will say that the movie ending gave me the goosebumps that I didn't get from the book, so bravo there. I truly think this was a good movie, but I think to really appreciate it, wait to read the book.

As always, the book is by far better than the movie. The casting felt off, chemistry between actors wrong, and the changes made to accommodate a movie version were unfortunate. Overall, without the book it's a fine movie...I'd say skip the movie, read the book!

I'm not a big fan of romantic films. I usually get bored and never make it to the end of the movie. This one though, really spoke to me. I absolutely loved the acting, the plot, the scenery was beautiful... I honestly have nothing bad to say (strangely enough since this is a Netflix original movie). I was hesitant at first, I was not expecting anything impressive or out of the ordinary, but this film definitely proved me wrong. It's both emotional and romantic but realistic and raw at the same time. In case you haven't watched it yet, give it a shot, it's worth it.

Surprisingly good, good acting, good storyline, great setting, great dressing and makeup. You really do feel like you are in the 60's of the last century.

Well I can only imagine it is based on a book. And considering the similarities I can detect with Notebook (one of the best romantic dramas to ever grace our screens or wherever you choose to watch it) ... that should not be a surprise.

Having said that, the movie has also really good actors for the different time periods it is playing and dishing out to us. You have to be inclined to like romantic movies at least a little ... otherwise do not even think about watching this. The timelines work (both) and you can see the connection (I don't think it is too hard to predict most of what is going to happen ... which is not really a bad thing ... it is the journey after all we embark on, that is the one that excites us)

I honestly expected more romance and more heartwrench from the movie but the romance comes off as a little bland and there is little chemistry between the main characters although I would credit this mostly to the writing. It however makes for a nice drama and a good Saturday comfort watch.

The Last Letter tries to convincingly connect an unrealized love relationship from the 60s and a young couple today. And while each generation has a decent love story, the co-mingling of them doesn't really DO anything.

This story is unexpectedly touching. It was initially slow, but I am touched by the ending.

It was, in general, a good film. However, the story was very much changed from the original one and that prevented me from enjoying it completely.

Good acting good movie fun to watch one of the best netflix original movie.

I personally enjoyed it. The movie was interesting and thoughtful. Would recommend for someone who likes romantic films.

3 out of 5 stars.

Fair romantic drama film which has a similar to premise from other romantic films. Sweet cast ensemble. Cute drama story. The direction is dull with the present story.

Is "chick flick" a phrase that you can use these days? I guess not, since it infers that a movie is only of interest to a particular gender. Perhaps "Sunday afternoon film" is a better phrase. And "The Last Letter From Your Lover" is a real SAF.

Positives:

• "They don't make them like this any more" the saying goes. This is a love story cum melodrama that is well told by director Augustine Frizzell, in only her second feature. The film zips backwards and forwards between different time periods, trusting the audience to keep up with where we are. The dialogue is suitably soupy for a film of this type, based on a Jojo Moyes book (who wrote "Me Before You", also well-filmed). I've seen a critic review in "The Times" where they mocked the sentimentality of the love letters: but part of me would love to say "OK - let's hear what you would have written"!

• The story ticks all the boxes to keep you engaged. Although never moved to tears, a scene towards the end of the movie certainly generated a lump in the throat.

• All the leads are great. Shailene Woodley has been a personal favourite actress since her amazing turn in "The Descendants". And she certainly doesn't disappoint here.

• The production design is lush, particularly with the 60's scenes of London and the Riviera (reminiscent for me of the recent remake of "Rebecca"). This is nicely brought out by the cinematography (by George Steel), with some of the scenes being 'hang on the wall' beautiful to look at.

• It's wonderful to see the late Ben Cross in the movie, and he gives an excellent and touching performance. Cross died of cancer in August 2020 at the age of just 72. This is probably not his last movie, since he was in another - "The Devil's Light" - currently in post-production. Such a sad loss to the industry.

Negatives:

• The movie tries to construct a love story in the 60's and one in the present day 2020's, contrasting the different rules and values at play. The 60's one works; the 20's one really didn't for me. Ellie comes across as a very unlikeable person. The contrast between the lack of communications in the 60's (waiting at a station, not sure if someone will turn up or not) and today's chat/SMS rich 'always on' world could perhaps have been brought out more. With my Dr Bob directorial hat on, I would have ditched the present-day love story entirely and focused in on two professional detectives uncovering the past together: not everything needs to involve love and sex.

• The film has a couple of rain sequences that are highly unconvincing. One Riviera in-car scene particularly made me chuckle. "TURN FIRE HOSE ON!" You can almost see the blue sky and people cavorting on the beach behind them!

Summary Thoughts on "The Last Letter from Your Lover": There are actually few films around these days that feature love stories outside the teenage years. This is an 'old-fashioned' film that will appeal to an older age group, looking for style, romance and escapism. It reminded me in turns of movies like "The Two Faces of January" and "The Age of Adeline" in its mood and presentation. I'm probably not the target audience for this movie and I really enjoyed it. But the illustrious Mrs Movie Man probably is. And she declared that she absolutely loved it!

Ignore the sniffy newspaper and ex-newspaper critics. I'd declare this to be a "recommended".

(For the full graphical review, please check out One Mann's Movies on the web, Facebook or Tiktok. Thanks.)

I was excited to watch, especially because I'm a romantic at heart and I value both Shailene and Felicity as actors. I did not read the book, btw. It was just lacking. I can't put my finger on it. I honestly kept thinking while I watched the film that it must have been directed by a male, even though realizing that is a sexist thought, but that was not the case after I researched the film more. I am hoping someone can articulate better that I can regarding what was missing. I must add, Boot, Callum Turner, was truly awesome and have now added to my favorites. It's worth a watch, but disappointing.