The Will

This is a wonderful production by Passionflix, where they bring popular romantic fiction to life. The Will is based on the Kristen Ashley book of the same title. I had not read the book at the time of originally watching this film...but I enjoyed it so much I bought the book to read immediately after watching.

I have since rewatched the film several times. The source material is wonderful for this film. I was delighted to see two actors who weren't super young have a sexy and romantic storyline.

The story is set in Maine and is about Josie (Josephine) who's Grandmother Lydia Malone has just passed away. The film starts with the funeral and the reading of the will...which is where Josie meets Jake. In unusual will request Lydia "gives" Josie to Jake. Of course it is explained by the lawyer that you can't give a human being so it isn't legally binding. Jake thinks they should at least get to know one another over dinner in honoring Lydia's wishes. Eventually they do get to know one another and after a boxing match...begin to smolder on the screen. Jake is a thrice divorced former professional boxer who owns both a gym and a stripclub. He has three kids, all of whom were very close with Lydia. He also knows Josie's secrets...like that she was physically abused by both her father and her first significant boyfriend. Josie inherits Lydia's spectacular Maine home called Lavender house, which becomes a source of conflict as her uncle tries to contest the will and a developer is desperately trying to buy it from her.

Wonderful chemistry between the two lead actors. Great casting...I loved most all of the characters but particularly Amond and the two Taylors. The Maine scenery was lovely and the Lavender House itself was spectacular. Josie's wardrobe was really interesting and seemed to suit her fashion industry lifestyle...all except the pale blue jumpsuit!

At first the film started out slowly for me and I didn't really know where it was going...but if you relax, it really grows on you. I have gone back and watched the film several times, enjoying it each and every time. I also notice new details that I didn't pick up on during the first watching. Josie's overall softness and femininity is very well balanced by our former boxer, protector or manly-man.

This is a strong recommendation from me to all those romantics out there...you will love this unique story and film.

The more I kept watching the more I felt like there was something wrong/missing. And then I realized it was the life behind the acting. The entire movie felt like it was some weird audition by the characters and not a final product.

Don't get me wrong, this Jake was HOT hot, that is till he opened his mouth. For some reason his voice dialed his sexiness down. Now for Josie, she also fit the description to the T, but my god was there no life behind her words. She was overacting too much and flat at the same time.

Also, the movie makes me realize that KA's book didn't have very good bones. Without all the internal commentary and the hundreds of pages covering clothing, well there's not much left. So the story felt like it was being rushed even though the producers had 300+ pages to work with.

Visuals are 10+/10. Everything else....we're talking negatives.

They did an excellent job with the movie. The actors and location were perfect. Kristen Ashley is one of my favorite authors. I'm still amazed that Passionflix chose this series over of Mystery Man. Over all they did great though and I'm happy for KA.

So, The Will is one of my favorite books by Kristen Ashley. Dangerous to watch a movie based on any book, but ESPECIALLY a favorite. They'll never get it exactly right! (The one exception to this, in my experience, was The Pelican Brief by John Grisham.) So, when I watch a movie based off a book I've read, I try to go into it looking at the movie as its own version of the same story. It truly helps!

Now, with that background - they did a decent job w/ this adaptation! Location & costuming were EXCELLENT. I absolutely loved how Josie's wardrobe changed throughout the movie as she dropped her shields & became comfortable finding the real her. I liked most of the actors, tho there were a couple roles that didn't quite "fit" for me. My issue was more w/ the way these characters were cast/directed/edited than with the actors themselves, because I felt like they all did an excellent job. There were a couple scenes that I thought would be a bit confusing if you hadn't read the book, but mostly everything came together nicely.

Overall, I enjoyed the movie, will likely watch it again, and will definitely be doing another reread of the book here soon! It made me want to dive back into the details of Josie & Jake's story. : )

Ok, for a Passionflix movie this was good. Idk if it was that both main actors were actually good actors or the fact that I really liked The Will by Kristen Ashley, but I actually enjoyed this movie. When it comes to telling the story this movie actually simplified the book and gave us a story to follow that did not requiere 3 parts (*coughs* Gabriel's Inferno. *rolls eyes*) Also I did notice this movie was not directed by Toska Musk. Idk if that was a main reason why I enjoyed it, but I have noticed every time she's directing her movies tend to have storylines that are not needed. All in all, it was a good movie. Cheesy, but what romance movie isn't.