Serendipity (2001)

Fairy Tale Theater

The best thing about Serendipity is that it makes no mistake about what it's trying to be: a romantic comedy completely in the fairy tale vein. Taken as a whole, the events in the movie could never happen in real life, and that's what makes it fun. A weaker romantic comedy might have tried harder to use grounded and logical explanations for the movie's string of unlikely coincidences, but Serendipity makes no such attempt. For this, it should be commended. The story is a fantasy and should therefore feel like a fantasy, and it does.

The movie takes the long-standing romantic ideal of two people who are destined for each other and turns it into the primary running gag. The humor is in the notion that fate doesn't so much demand that the lovers unite as it does suggest it -- very strongly. These suggestions come in the form of coincidences, such as the moment when our protagonists, Jonathan (John Cusack) and Sara (Kate Beckinsale), meet by both reaching for the same pair of gloves while Christmas shopping in a New York department store. They talk, get to know each other, and then part ways, only to meet again when they each return for something left behind. The movie does a good job of emphasizing the silliness of these events by portraying Sara as someone who believes blindly in fate. When a gust blows away the scrap that she was writing her number on for Jonathan, she takes it as a warning that the two were not meant to meet again. "That's crazy!" Jonathan exclaims, and he's right. But he suspends his logic and follows along with Sara's ideas for testing fate. We, the audience, are asked to follow along, too, and maybe have some fun in the process.

The remainder of the movie becomes a game of sign-spotting for our protagonists. Years after their meeting, they've led separate lives and both find themselves on the verge of getting married, although neither of them can forget the special connection they shared with each other on that one night. Then the signs start to appear, reminding them of the conversations they've had, and ultimately persuading them to each embark on a mad quest to locate the other. It is amusing to see that they both operate differently toward the same goal -- Jonathan follows leads and leaves nothing to chance while Sara follows her nose and leaves everything to chance. Whenever hope seems to be lost, a new sign will appear to spur them forward again. The movie works because these signs are just that: signs, and nothing more. They are not indicators of compatibility and they do not try to convince us that our heroes belong together for a reason. The audience already knows they belong together and it doesn't care why. Rather than wasting its time by trying to persuade the audience of the legitimacy of the couple's destiny, the movie smartly maintains focus on the humor in the protagonists' inability to find each other despite so many close calls and crossed paths. After all, the movie is a fairy tale and not a lesson in love.

Serendipity contains a lot of used romantic comedy conventions, like sigh-evoking scenes of winter in New York, a soundtrack that includes Louis Armstrong, and stock characters like the sensible best friends of the leads. The leads, however, are endearing, with Cusack playing Cusack and Beckinsale proving herself more fetching with her natural British accent than she was with an American accent in Pearl Harbor. Eugene Levy, funny as always, livens his scenes. It's also nice to observe a noticeable lack of crude humor being used. There are no scenes like Cusack's cactus scene from America's Sweethearts or the laughless statue scene from The Wedding Planner here.

There is little doubt that those who seek Serendipity for a light and comforting distraction will get exactly what they are looking for. Those looking for something new and challenging should stay away. This is the kind of material that is suited for a bedtime story -- when it's finished the feeling is one of contentment and a desire for something to snuggle in.

Rating: 7/10

©Jeffrey Chen, Oct. 7, 2001

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