The Love Letter (1998)

A young man (Campbell Scott) is shopping with his fiancee (Daphne Ashbrook) when he finds an antique desk from the Civil War era that attracts him and he purchases it. In a secret compartment, he finds a letter written by the desk's previous owner (Jennifer Jason Leigh). It is a love letter to a man she's never met. And thus begins a romance that spans a 100 years. Based on a 1959 short story by Jack Finney (INVASION OF THE BODY SNATCHERS) and directed by Dan Curtis (TV'S DARK SHADOWS), the movie is reminiscent of SOMEWHERE IN TIME (1980). While it lacks the dreamy romanticism (driven by John Barry's gorgeous score) of that film, it has the same loopy illogical inclination that makes it so fascinating. I kept waiting for the inevitable and predictable "twist" at the end and sure enough, just like clockwork it came. Scott and Leigh make for an attractive coupling which puts us on their side right away. With Estelle Parsons, David Dukes, Irma P. Hall and Kali Rocha.