I know Christmas-time is over, but with the recent addition of 10 inches of snow, I thought the holiday love story in Serendipity would lead us appropriately into Valentines Day. Serendipity is one of my all time favorite romantic comedies. I’m pretty sure I saw it for the first time as an in-flight movie on one of my first plane rides in college, and I’ve loved it ever since! It’s a great love story that rivals “fortunate accidents” against good ole destiny…and what girl doesn’t believe in destiny?

Serendipity opens on a scene in a New York Bloomingdales with our lead characters Jonathan (John Cusack) and Sara (Kate Beckinsale) frantically shopping for last minute Christmas gifts. They end up bonding over the last pair of gloves available, and that’s just the beginning of their fateful romance. The two are so mesmerized with each other that they spend the rest of the night walking around New York together, oblivious to the fact that they each have significant others back at home. Their night together includes a visit to the restaurant/café Serendipity (which I made sure to visit for myself when I made a trip to New York!) where Sara is attracted to its pleasant name, meaning “fortunate accident.” Thus starts the argument that Sara and Jonathan were accidentally brought together or were destined to meet. The story then jumps several years to the future, where Jonathan is about to marry the wrong girl, and Sara is engaged to the wrong the man. Neither of the two can forget about the fateful night back in New York where they actually met “the one,” and a frantic yet comical race to find the destined other person begins.

In the search to find each other, Jonathan and Sara are aided by their best friends played by Jeremy Piven and Molly Shannon, and by a quirky and annoying Bloomingdales salesman played by Eugene Levy. Actors John Corbett and Bridget Moynahan also lend their skills in this well-acted love story. In addition, the music in Serendipity adds to the excitement and romance of the film. Louis Armstrong sets the Christmas tone at the very beginning of the movie, and Annie Lennox and Evan and Jaron add to its great soundtrack.

I love Serendipity for many reasons. It’s a great love story between two people who you really want to end up together. I get excited every time Jonathan and Sara get so close to running in to each other while in New York. I love the crazy race against time and the obstacles that the characters are involved in because it’s something that every girl can relate to…we read too far into everything we see and hear, follow the smallest clues and hold tight to the littlest bit of hope when we find someone we love. We try to turn “fortunate accidents” into destiny all the time! I even love the actual restaurant/café Serendipity! It’s so quaint and sets the mood (and their iced coffee drinks are amazing!) Serendipity is a super wonderful romantic comedy, complete with great acting and good music to download. It’s definitely a chick flick that makes you all warm and fuzzy inside, hoping that you too will find (or maybe already have found) your destiny.