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Serendipity
Miramax Films


7.3

based on 33 reviews
Read critic reviews
How did we calculate this?

based on 21 votes
Read user comments
Rate this movie

FILM:

MPAA RATING: PG-13 for a scene of sexuality, and for brief language

Starring John Cusack, Kate Beckinsale, Molly Shannon, Jeremy Piven, Bridget Moynahan, and Eugene Levy

They met by chance and spent the perfect night together. Now, before it's too late, they have one last chance to find out if what might have been could still be. (Miramax Films)

GENRE(S):	Romance
WRITTEN BY:	Marc Klein
DIRECTED BY:	Peter Chelsom
RELEASE DATE:	DVD: April 9, 2002 Video: April 9, 2002 Theatrical: October 5, 2001
RUNNING TIME:	97 minutes, Color
ORIGIN:	USA

All critic scores are converted to a 100-point scale. If a critic does not indicate a score, we assign a score based on the general impression given by the text of the review. Learn more...

Entertainment Weekly Lisa Schwarzbaum

Serendipity has no business working, but it does. And by the way, Eugene Levy has no business almost stealing the show, but he does, too.

Boston Globe Jay Carr

Serendipity returns us, if only for a couple of hours, to the Manhattan of our dreams.

Salon.com Charles Taylor

Airy and enchanting, this romantic comedy works overtime to sprinkle moonlight and stardust over itself.

Wall Street Journal Joe Morgenstern

Serendipity is "Sliding Doors" with no alternate versions; it's willed enchantment all the way.

Mr. Showbiz Kevin Maynard

The casting is sublime.

Miami Herald Connie Ogle

Serendipity's finale is a perfect crowd-pleaser, sweet and unlikely and over the top.

San Francisco Chronicle Bob Graham

Serendipity is a throwback to a more innocent era in American life, 25 days ago.

New York Post Lou Lumenick

Honestly, it's still pretty hard to resist as a guilty pleasure: A fluffy date-night movie that wrung a tear or two from more than one hardened male critic's eyes, chick flick or no.

Newsweek David Ansen

A fanciful, featherweight, mostly charming concoction predicated on the old romantic myth that there is one true soul mate out there for us all.

Film Threat Michael Dequina

Serendipity leaves one with a pleasant feeling few films generate: that of wanting more.

Village Voice Ed Park

The most romantic New York movie since August's "Happy Accidents."

USA Today Claudia Puig

If you can believe Serendipity's cockeyed conceit, you may find that discovering this escapist love story feels like a lucky accident.

New York Daily News Jami Bernard

The lightweight bauble is perfect entertainment for now.

Chicago Tribune Michael Wilmington

There is a thrill in seeing them wooing and pursuing each other through the streets of New York, a city that here again, for a while, becomes a movie isle of joy.

Time Richard Schickel

Your affection for Serendipity may depend on how fascinated you are by a movie that is apparently going after the all-time record for delayed consummation.

Portland Oregonian Shawn Levy

Tasty, but, finally, a little unfulfilling.

Austin Chronicle Kimberley Jones

It's kinda funny and pretty cute. Sometimes that's all it takes.

Philadelphia Inquirer Carrie Rickey

Contrived and schematic, Peter Chelsom's film is a mechanical bird that never takes wing.

Christian Science Monitor David Sterritt

This exceedingly romantic comedy begins with flair but lapses into clichés long before the sentimental (and predictable) finale.

Seattle Post-Intelligencer Sean Axmaker

It all feels false and calculated, an overearnest attempt to find old-fashioned romantic innocence in the modern world by someone too jaded to believe.

The New York Times A.O. Scott

The cinematic equivalent of a plate made of spun sugar.

New York Magazine Peter Rainer

I've never understood why filmmakers construct romances in which the leads hardly spend any time together.

New Times (L.A.) Robert Wilonsky

Serendipity already feels archaic, like some dusty relic that's been unearthed from an antique store's attic and polished off for display.

TV Guide Maitland McDonagh

The pace is brisk and the details are carefully arranged, but there's no sparkle -- and what's a romance without that?

Baltimore Sun Michael Sragow

Maybe the best way to see Serendipity is to take a cue from the characters and wait a few years.

Los Angeles Times Kenneth Turan

A blithe and unapologetic fairy tale about affairs of the heart, it's a spun-sugar confection that's so light and airy it threatens to simply float away.

LA Weekly Ernest Hardy

As Serendipity moves into the final stretch, Chelsom's direction becomes frenzied but still lethargic; he never breathes life into the film.

Chicago Reader Lisa Alspector

Romantic comedy is set mainly in NYC, where the plight of its ambivalent lovers seems particularly trivial.

Variety Todd McCarthy

Will serve as an excellent gauge of any viewer's tolerance level for schmaltzy contrivance and manipulation.

Chicago Sun-Times Roger Ebert

The plot risks bursting under the strain of its coincidences, as Sara and Jon fly to opposite coasts at the same time and engage in a series of Idiot Plot moves so extreme and wrongheaded that even other characters in the same scene should start shouting helpful suggestions.

Washington Post Rita Kempley

The ultimate in deja viewing:an overfamiliar and exasperating game of cat-and-mousie.

Washington Post Desson Thomson

Insipid, by-the-numbers romance.

Rolling Stone Peter Travers

Does romantic comedy have to come off as sugared stupidity? It does here.

The average user rating for this movie is 7.3 (out of 10) based on 21 User Votes
Note: User votes are NOT included in the Metascore calculation.

Eliza gave it a10:
It is wonderful romantic story. It is my favorite love story. Advice to everyone who still trust in true Love.

Stacey G. gave it a9:
Imagine trying to bake a perfect cake with layers of chocolate and vanilla. But the cake will be nothing more than a forgettable, fattening dessert unless it is cooked at the exact set temperature. Even with old ingredients, 'Serendipity' was cooked perfectly. It comes out of the oven with the candles already on it, and they're lit, too. 'Serendipity' is a movie with so much heart and bold honesty that you just might like it. Romantic comedies are not meant to be good or memorable beyond a few sparked daydreams, but once Cusack and Beckinsale click in front of the camera they click on screen, and when snow falls and lips lock everything else falls into place. It's as if the film were a tapestry of events and characters that was meant to be viewed right when you thought a romantic comedy could never be a total success, just to prove you wrong. Beckinsale and Cusack Are Jonathan and Sarah, two people who fall in love by doing nothing more peculiar than visiting a department store. They are not the perfect people romantic comedies often portray the 'featured' couple to be. Jonathan and Sarah are just a nice pair trying to make sense of a life changing night. The characters never seem as if actors play them. They seem to be as caught up in their romance as we are. Jeremy Piven plays a better 'sidekick' to Cusack than even Vince Vaughn did to Owen Wilson in "Wedding Crashers." The script is so refreshing that when it's funny you forget it has a romantic base and when it is romantic you forget it is meant to be funny, as well. The romance is like the center of a flower while the comedy-centered moments are pretty pedals. Everything in the film seems proud and charming. When 'Serendipity' ends and you realize (and admit) it found a way to hide your logical views on love for a few hours, you will ponder just how the movie managed so much charm. Is it the directing, the writing, the acting, the soundtrack? Not really. It's in how they mix. It's how when the movie has the perfect actors it also knows when to have them say a perfect line at a perfect moment while the perfect music plays off camera. 'Serendipity' might have its flaws and it will never be more than a romantic comedy, but it's a really good one and everyone involved with the project seems to know that. It's like the charming little novel that is always eager to be taken off the shelf and read.

sara gave it a10:
I loved the movie. it is a clasic story of two people who fall in love at first site.

Pat C. gave it a 7:
There's a lot of formula stock in this show, but nothing really offensive. And yes, some relationships are romances because the two involved are hardly ever together. And to some extent, if you belong together, you don't have to try - more like you just follow along. A simple pleasant presentation of a theme of hidden dimensions.

Michael gave it an 8:
An enjoyable romantic comedy with very likeable characters. When the two characters are together on screen they really sparkle. It is only too bad we do not get to see more of that in the film.

Rob Mc. gave it a 2:
Badly written and bereft of any wit or clever ideas. Not particularly well-developed or likeable characters. Even after leaving the painful coincidences aside, very little in this movie makes sense.

Layne gave it a 7:
Scrumptious and fluffy without being too shallow and yet still managing to cover most of the largely noticeable flaws.

Serendipity Miramax Films

Serendipity
Miramax Films