When it comes to movie critiques, I am usually the type of person to find the positives, even if it is like searching for a needle in a haystack. Oftentimes, I will think something is fairly decent, just to find out it had atrocious ratings from others. It really takes a lot for me to truly believe a film to be ‘bad.’ That being said, this movie was… so, so disappointing. And honestly, I came into it with the absolute highest of expectations. The male lead, Corey Mylchreest, was quite possibly my favorite male actor of all time based simply on his performance in Queen Charlotte: A Bridgerton Story. So, naturally, I was overly ecstatic when this movie was released, if anything, just to get to see him in another role. Even still, if we were to judge the movie solely based on him, I would say it was good. Unfortunately, all of the other factors made it impossible for his acting skills to compensate for.
Why such a harsh opinion?
It is difficult to pinpoint which aspect of the film was the main culprit of the utter letdown. The plotline progression, perhaps? Which was just…not right. It felt like a bunch of clichés were thrown together, but at an accelerated pace that didn’t make sense. Our main character Anna, played by Sofia Carson, travels to Oxford University to study for a year, which isn’t too out of the ordinary–except for the fact that it is after her graduation and it is ‘just for fun’ because she already has a job lined up at Goldman Sachs. I can’t say that I’ve ever had such a prestigious company allow me to defer an offer of employment for a year for ‘self-care and discovery’, but hey, perhaps her credentials were just that good.
On the romantic side of the plot, she meets the love interest Jamie (Corey) practically right away. They tried to make it like an enemies-to-lovers sort of situation (I think) because it begins with him speeding through a puddle in his sports car and henceforth, soaking her on the sidewalk–but the vibes when they meet moments later, conveniently at the same empty fish and chips shop, almost lean towards a love at first sight moment. Anna speaks one word to him, and bam, he is completely enamored by this American stranger, despite being accompanied by another female. It seemed so forced and soon and just… disappointing.
Things did not get better. In fact–they may have gotten worse.
The rest of the movie just followed the same rapid, disengenuous pace as the beginning. Their relationship evolves, but yet, it doesn’t really show any relationship-building conversations. One moment, he is dramatically walking away, acting as if he can’t date one of his students(oh, because he ends up being her professor, what a crazy coincidence), and the next day, they are in a no-strings-attached relationship after the most awkward library flirting scene I have ever witnessed.
Now I am not at all picking on either of the actors. Obviously, I love Corey, and Sofia seems really talented as well. I think it was just the combination of the two that was not working. But then again, I think they could have decent enough chemistry if there was a decent enough script and a decent enough story for them to enact. Unfortunately, this movie didn’t quite meet that bar.
After watching, I was curious as to the background of the movie and came to learn that it is actually based on a book by Julia Whelan. I haven’t read the book, so I can’t fully comment on the comparisons, but I have a feeling that it is a decent story that just somehow got lost in translation. People magazine explained here that the film was adapted from a screenplay that the author Julia Whelan assisted on, and also wrote a novel about. So then… the movie is an adaptation of a novel that was an adaptation of a screenplay. I mean, there is nothing wrong with that, but perhaps it was like a game of telephone where parts of the message got lost.
As with all opinions, take this with a grain of salt. Because I sure felt salty after watching it.
In the end, I didn’t personally enjoy most aspects of the movie, but it is also possible that I went into it with too high expectations–I expected a Bridgerton-level movie from a simple college romance story. Although if you trust Rotten Tomatoes’ opinion, they seem to agree with me, giving it a big, green splatter with a score of 29%.On a more positive note, if you are looking for a movie with a similar ambiance that also takes place in England–you should watch Me Before You (available on Amazon Prime and fuboTV). This movie broke me, but yet it was so good that I haven’t been able to stop thinking about it almost a decade after its release. Not to mention, the two main characters are Khaleesi(Emilia Clarke) and Finnick Odair(Sam Claflin), which you wouldn’t think works, but it really does.
