Serendipity Synopsis: A couple search for each other years after the night they first met, fell in love, and separated, convinced that one day they’d end up together.
While Christmas shopping for their significant others, Jonathan (John Cusack) and Sara (Kate Beckinsale) share a chance encounter over a pair of black cashmere gloves. He is instantly smitten, but Sara believes in destiny, serendipity if you will, and after one magical night, they leave it up to fate as to whether or not they truly belong together.
A few years later, both are engaged to be married to other people, but Jonathan and Sara are suddenly awash in memories of that night in New York and, with a bit of help from the universe, set off to find one another. I remember watching this movie in the theaters when it came out in 2001. It became one of my favorite romantic comedies and remains so to this day.
There’s something incredibly cozy about the movie, and I think it’s very easy to suspend disbelief for 90 minutes as the characters follow the signs back to each other’s arms. John Cusack is his usual, awkwardly charming self, and Kate Beckinsale is adorable and surprisingly funny as well. Beckinsale and Cusack have the kind of chemistry that makes it okay that they’re apart for the majority of the film.
You’re still rooting for them, and the payoff is just as fun as the journey to get there. Their significant others, played by John Corbett and Bridget Moynahan, are perfectly fine people. They’re not overrun with flaws or wearing shiny neon signs that tell the audience how wrong they are for Sara and Jonathan. But there are small moments where you can see the slightest incompatibility, and I appreciate that the movie didn’t make either of them one-dimensional throwaways.
On top of the romance and destiny, Serendipity has entertaining supporting characters played by Molly Shannon, who plays Sara’s best friend Eve, and Eugene Levy, a store clerk helping Jonathan find Sara. Jeremy Piven is a bit more subtle as Jonathan’s best friend going through his own marital problems, but he’s Jonathan’s conscience, and their (once) real-life friendship bleeds through into the movie.
With a plot that requires a lot of faith, acceptance of some contrivance plots, and discounting some “glaring” plot holes – how does Sara get on an airplane without her ID when she and Eve switch wallets? Did that light cashmere glove really fly that far in the skating rink in the snow? – the movie ultimately comes down to the two main leads and whether their chemistry is palpable enough to root for them to ditch their likable significant others and surrender to fate. The answer is yes, it is.
There’s no room for logic and explanation here… “you don’t have to understand. you just have to have faith.” That’s Serendipity in a nutshell.
Watched: 11/17/2018
Notable Song: The Distance by Evan and Jaren
