While writing about her Aunt's life, who died young from leukemia, a writer discovers her childhood diary and love letters that force her to investigate if she uncovered a romantic love story or a cold case of sexual abuse.
Amitié Amoureuse is a French term for a romantic but non-sexual relationship. It's a Hallmark-type screenplay written in their patented nine-act arc. The script marries the television show Cold Case with the movie The Notebook. During her investigation, Katie interviews Joseph, now sixty-nine, who was Angie's object of affection. Joseph adds heart-warming reflections to contrast the abuse angle Katie had in her mind. The story's flashbacks, dreams, and visions of Angie at age eleven, teen years, and as a 24-year-old adult provide comedic undertones. We don't know until the final scene that Katie's book will portray a sincere, loving relationship.
Synopsis Katie Greco, a 24-year-old writer, is working on her final thesis, which interests several publishing houses. Katie researched the life of her late Aunt Angie Greco, who died forty years ago at Katie's present age from leukemia. She thought her novel was complete until she visited home for her Father's funeral and found a metal box with flower decals in the attic. Inside this box was her Aunt's childhood diary and a stack of love letters from an unknown J.B. This revelation causes Katie to rewrite her story, but while decoding the diary, she is alarmed that she might have uncovered a cold case of child sexual abuse. At this same time, Joseph Bellotti, a 69-year-old part-time mayor of a small town who lives with his wife of 36 years, Linda, is notified of Katie's Father, Richie's death. Richie was Joseph's best friend in high school, but they never kept in touch for unknown reasons.
During this time, visions of Angie at different ages appear to both Katie and Joseph. These visions do not tell secrets but are mere projections from Katie's and Joseph's minds on what Angie would say to them. Katie's decoding and interviewing an old neighbor of her Aunt have found that all of the suspect diary entries and all the love letters are from J.B., Joseph Bellotti. The drawing of bells in these diary entries is coded as his nickname was Bells. Katie shares her findings with her creative writing mentor and the directors of child development and women's studies at the college. The three experts agree this looks like a cold case of child sexual abuse. They implore Katie to interview Joseph Bellotti and coax a confession from him. Katie takes the challenge and contacts Joseph for this trap-type interview.
Katie travels to Joseph's office for the interview, and he is blown away by how much Katie looks like her Aunt Angie. Katie first wants to grill Joseph about the diary entries. The entries are suggestive but not conclusive. Joseph explains he was best friends with her brother Richie who is Katie's Dad, and that is why he was always around their house. Joseph explains every diary entry with a cute and funny heart-warming story. Katie feels that Angie never uses Joseph's actual name to cover up and rationalize improper sexual advances by Joseph.
Here, Joseph realizes this is not a friendly interview but an attack. Joseph is visibly shaken when Katie takes out the love letters, but the problem is that she doesn't know what Angie wrote to him. Katie reveals that the experts at the university deducted from these letters that she was in a sexual relationship with you as a minor. The interview gets tense as Joseph accuses them of a publicity witch-hunt to sell books. During the breaks of this interview, the vision of Angie visits and calms Katie and Joseph down to seek the truth.
It is at this point that Joseph changes the interview into a trial. Katie was the prosecutor, and now he will present his defense. First, the phrase Amitié Amoureuse is Angie's, not his, and it's the term for a romantic but non-sexual relationship between friends. Joseph, through a flashback, tells how at Angie's funeral, her Mom hysterically yelled that Joseph was Angie's true love as Angie shared her letters with her Mom. The last piece of evidence was to visit Angie's burial site. At the cemetery, Katie sees that Angie had Amitié Amoureuse on her tombstone, surrounded by carvings of bells.
Katie goes back and does a frantic rewrite. No one knows how she will portray Joseph in this story about her Aunt's life. Ten months later, a party for Katie's book is attended and supported by her three advisors at the university. Joseph receives an advanced copy in the mail. He nervously opens the package with his wife, and tears roll down their cheeks when they see the title is Amitié Amoureuse, a picture of the flowered metal box, and the question, Can a couple have a romantic relationship without having sex? The book is the extraordinary love story of Angie and Joseph.