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Serendipity
Mixed or average reviews
Based on 33 critic reviews
How did we calculate this?
Based on 22 votes
Read user comments
Rate this movie >
Movie Info
Genre(s): Romance
Written by: Marc Klein
Directed by: Peter Chelsom
Release Date:
Theatrical: October 5, 2001
DVD: April 9, 2002
Running Time: 97 minutes, Color
Origin: USA
Summary
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)
Also On Metacritic
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Also On The Web: Internet Movie Database View The Trailer Official Studio Site
What The Critics Said
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.
Read Full Review >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.
Read Full Review >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.
Read Full Review >San Francisco Chronicle Bob Graham
Serendipity is a throwback to a more innocent era in American life, 25 days ago.
Read Full Review >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.
Read Full Review >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.
Read Full Review >Village Voice Ed Park
The most romantic New York movie since August's "Happy Accidents."
Read Full Review >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.
Read Full Review >New York Daily News Jami Bernard
The lightweight bauble is perfect entertainment for now.
Read Full Review >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.
Read Full Review >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.
Austin Chronicle Kimberley Jones
It's kinda funny and pretty cute. Sometimes that's all it takes.
Read Full Review >Philadelphia Inquirer Carrie Rickey
Contrived and schematic, Peter Chelsom's film is a mechanical bird that never takes wing.
Read Full Review >Christian Science Monitor David Sterritt
This exceedingly romantic comedy begins with flair but lapses into clichés long before the sentimental (and predictable) finale.
Read Full Review >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.
Read Full Review >The New York Times A.O. Scott
The cinematic equivalent of a plate made of spun sugar.
Read Full Review >New York Magazine Peter Rainer
I've never understood why filmmakers construct romances in which the leads hardly spend any time together.
Read Full Review >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.
Read Full Review >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?
Read Full Review >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.
Read Full Review >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.
Read Full Review >Chicago Reader Lisa Alspector
Romantic comedy is set mainly in NYC, where the plight of its ambivalent lovers seems particularly trivial.
Read Full Review >Variety Todd McCarthy
Will serve as an excellent gauge of any viewer's tolerance level for schmaltzy contrivance and manipulation.
Read Full Review >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.
Read Full Review >Washington Post Rita Kempley
The ultimate in deja viewing:an overfamiliar and exasperating game of cat-and-mousie.
Read Full Review >Rolling Stone Peter Travers
Does romantic comedy have to come off as sugared stupidity? It does here.
Read Full Review >What Our Users Said
The average user rating for this movie is 7.4 (out of 10) based on 22 User Votes
Note: User votes are NOT included in the Metascore calculation.
Cassian J. gave it a7:
When Jonathon randomly bumps into Sarah in a department store whilst both trying to purchase the same pair of gloves an instant bond is formed. Sarah has a great believe in fate and takes Jonathon for some food at her favourite café ‘Serendipity’ and explains to Jonathon her faith fate and how if they are meant to be together then fate will make it so. A chain of events is then set in place which leads to a highly obvious conclusion that makes for a very enjoyable ride. Not being a great fan of romantic comedies I always come to films of this genre with trepidation but found this to be the exception to the rule a high quality rom-com which is actually an geared for adults and not the normal teen stuff. This is a well directed film which is kept together tightly with little to no wasted scenes, bring the film in at a respectable 90 minute running time which I feel is just about right for romantic comedies. The leads do very good jobs of their roles and remain enchanted by each other considering how little of the running time they actually spend in each other’s company. Now it helps if like me you are a big fan of John Cusack, but he really does very well with this role bringing a real feel of reality to the role making a man who could seem shallow or even dastardly at times seem real and earthy. Kate Beckindale does the English rose thing well without being the over the top prim and proper English girl character that we quite often get presented with in American movies. They are well supported by the always magnificent Jeremy Piven (the man is such a subtle scene stealer!). I would highly recommend this movie to fans of romantic comedies and to movie fans in general. I will be watching it again with my wife.
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.
