Nov. 22, 2001 – "Serendipity" has found its way from St. Croix, where it played a few weeks ago, all the way to St. Thomas, with no coincidences involved.
The word was coined by Horace Walpole in 1754 when he penned "The Three Princes of Serendip," a Persian fairy tale. Well, this isn't Persia, Toto, nor even current-day Iran; it's thoroughly modern Manhattan, although what we've got here is a fairy tale of sorts. (Not to be a spoilsport, but read happy ending here.)
Serendipity, a thoroughly lovely word and fun to say, is an aptitude for making fortunate discoveries bt accident. Now, whether this movie is one of those happy coincidences is a matter of conjecture.
Jonathon Trager (John Cusack) meets, or runs into, Sara Thomas (Kate Beckinsale) in the holiday rush of bustling New York, and guess what? Sparks! Palpitations! The two spend the evening wandering the streets of Manhattan together oblivious to everything except each other. (This is pre-Sept. 11, needless to say.)
But there is a problem; in fact there are two. Each of our lovers has another relationship. When it comes time to part, Sara says they should allow fate to decide their future, and not exchange telephone numbers or anything so mundane.
The movie has been called everything from "whimsical and supersappy" to just plain "sappy." Ifilm says if serendipity is a happy accident, "they got the accident part right." No matter for Cusack fans, and they are legion. And the English Beckinsale is no slouch, either.
(Should you want to test this serendipity thing personally, then go to the "Serendipity the movie" web site, click on "enter the site" and play their little question-and-answer game.)
The film sounds like a nice break from shopping — or from thinking, depending. That's what makes horse races, isn't it? It also stars Jeremy Piven, John Corbett and Molly Shannon and was directed by Peter Chelsom.
"Serendipity" is rated PG-13 for a scene of sexuality and, here we go again, brief language. It might be worth while to see some of these "brief language" movies simply to find out what the phenomenon is. It is playing at Market Square East on St. Thomas.
