
Two summers misfires are new to DVD/Blu-Ray this week, one of which deserved to be seen while the other...not so much. Why "Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time" didn't do better at the box office I'm not sure, though I do concede the trailer made it look cheesy and not nearly as smart (yes, smart) as it is. In contrast, "Letters To Juliet" was predictable and typical tearjerker melodrama, even if Amanda Seyfried is an appealing screen presence.
Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time -- Jake Gyllenhaal, Gemma Arterton, Ben Kingsley. Rated PG-13.
A rogue prince in ancient Persia (Gyllenhaal) and a usurped princess (Arterton) from a neighboring land must team up to protect a sacred dagger that controls time. It’s based on a video game and the dialogue is terrible, yet somehow director Mike Newell’s (“Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire”) film has brains and heart. Combine that with state-of-the-art visual effects and you have the first solid action movie of the summer. Buy It.
Letters to Juliet -- Amanda Seyfried, Vanessa Redgrave, Gael Garcia Bernal. Rated PG.
After an aspiring writer (Seyfried) answers a 50 year-old letter about lost love while on vacation in Verona, Italy, she soon finds herself on a road trip trying to find the letter writer’s (Redgrave) one who got away. Nice performances from Seyfried and Redgrave keep the sappy, melodramatic story afloat until it sinks into predictability. Rent It.

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