Autumn in August gets a sweet taste of Serendipity

Welcome back, everyone, for another round of Autumn in August where we keep cool during the summer heat with a fall themed movie.

Just like last time, I chose a New York based film from 2001, Serendipity , starring John Cusack and Kate Beckinsale as Jonathan and Sarah, who randomly meet during Christmas shopping and find themselves falling instantly in love.

Before we get any further, I must say that despite the holiday setting early on, I don’t consider this a Christmas movie; for one thing, the season is more background than anything and the story line doesn’t necessarily need Christmas to function (Valentine’s Day would work just as well in this instance). 

With that in mind, the two of them go for the same pair of gloves at Bloomingdale’s, which leads to an amusing argument with another customer (an uncredited cameo by the late great Buck Henry)over who really deserves but them:

That leads to Jonathan and Sarah having a magical night walking over the city and sharing ice cream treats at Serendipity 3(an actual restaurant in NYC) where she tells him of her belief that fate guides everyone and if they’re meant to be together, there has to be signs.

So, Jonathan writes his name and number on a five dollar bill that Sarah quickly spends and if that particular bit of money returns to her, then she will call. In exchange, Sarah puts her name and number in a copy of Love in the Time of Cholera and sells to a bookstore the next day for him to find as well. You can tell how long ago this was due to such whimsical logic being used.

Despite agreeing to such wackiness, Jonathan insists on one last chance at hurrying fate via an elevator race but thanks to a devilish little boy, that shortcut to love is denied!:

A few years later, Jonathan and Sarah are on opposite ends of the country, romantically involved with other people.

In fact, Jonathan is about to get married to Halley(future Blue Bloods star Bridget Moynahan) and Sarah has just gotten engaged to Lars(John Corbett). Despite these circumstances, each of them feels that the universe is trying to reunite them so they separately take up quests to find one another.

While Sarah’s plan involves taking a trip to New York with her best gal pal in tow(Molly Shannon), Jonathan happens to find the receipt for those long ago gloves that Sarah ultimately bought and tries to track her down via the store account, harassing a sales clerk(Eugene Levy) into breaking a few rules for him.

As a former retail worker myself, I am on that guy’s side and he is right about staying on the proper side of the counter there!:

This is a very lighthearted romcom with a script that is as deep and delicious as cotton candy.

While it is far from perfect (I so forgot that Jeremy Piven was in this movie and just how annoying he is), there are lovely moments where the nature of life and love is discussed between friends that do make this story line more than just a lovesick romp:

While Serendipity is not a classic romance for the ages, it does offer a good time to be had by all who are in the mood for lovelorn entertainment.

Next week, I will be watching for the first time , Mona Lisa Smile, a film with quite the back to school energy there. In the meanwhile, savor the sweetness of love and randomness New York style: