Sometimes it's good to just watch a nice movie. No major drama, crimes, or epic action scenes. Just a solid, well-acted, engaging story and that's exactly what Juliet, Naked is. Duncan Thompson (Chris O'Dowd, from The Incredible Jessica James) lives a normal life as a college tutor. He lives with his long-term girlfriend, Annie, and also happens to have an obsession with a musician called Tucker Crowe. Crowe had one hit album but fell off the radar 20 years ago, so Duncan runs a fan website and forum so he and other avid fans can chat about where their favourite singer is.
Annie (Rose Byrne, Physical) does not share Duncan's passion for Tucker Crowe. In fact, she can't stand him. So when Duncan receives an original copy of the album ‘Juliet, Naked‘, he becomes consumed by it. Hacked off at constantly being ignored, Annie writes a scathing review of it on the forum. That generates an email from the one and only Tucker Crowe. Turns out he's actually a very nice guy, living in the US and soon the two are chatting back and forth.
As their relationship progresses over email, Annie and Tucker get to know each other very well. Life isn't particularly easy for either of them and it turns out that most of the theories on Duncan's forum are bogus and that Tucker lives a rather unassuming quiet life.
But as they get closer online, Annie and Duncan drift further apart in real life. So will Annie and Tucker (Ethan Hawke) ever meet? Will their friendship blossom into something more? And what will Duncan do when he finds out?
Juliet, Naked is such a lovely, underrated movie. The script is quirky, there's plenty of offbeat comedy, and Chris O'Dowd, Rose Byrne, and Ethan Hawke are all wonderful and engaging. The setting of a small English town and lack of over-the-top drama makes it thoroughly engaging and the perfect flick for a night in with a glass of vino. Perfectly charming.