The Book of Love

Let's be completely honest and upfront, The Book of Love is not a good movie. It's not even a movie I would recommend to people. However, it's heart is in the right place. I know the film was made for people who are going through tragedies and are looking to move on. That's fine and all, but the execution is far from where it could have been with an idea like this. The Book of Love deals with two people, Henry and Millie, both with tragic pasts and looking for something to keep them going through difficult times. They share a bond together over tragedy, and decide to band together and build a boat to deal with their loss, and possibly go on an adventure of a lifetime. What follows is a serious of mostly convoluted events with several cheesy conflicts and dialogue that more or less lead to a B-movie version of Life of Pi meets The Way Way Back? Both are modern-day classics in my opinion, and The Book of Love has nowhere near the gravitas or emotional effect those films do, but I think that was certainly the tone they were going for. The problem is, the film never earns its emotional beats. Instead, it feels more like a glorified hallmark drama, just with great actors. The only major positive is Justin Timberlake's score, and yes I said Justin Timberlake. Why in the world I decided to watch this film, I'm not entirely sure, probably because of Maisie Williams, but it's not a film I will ever revisit.

4.4/10

The is movie about two strangers who have been left behind by the most significant person in their lives, and about how this bonds them as they engage in a bold project to sail from New Orleans to the Azores on a homemade raft.

Much of the wisdom is communicated by the voice-over commentary of 16 year-old Millie (Maisie Williams) who sounds like a deep south version of Christina Ricci's character in "The Opposite of Sex". The film is a little clumsy and Millie's accent is unnecessarily over-the-top but it is a good message and an overall pleasing effort.

Most profound is Millie's ambiguous statement about people dying when nobody is looking and living while nobody is watching. By which she is expounding on both their bold but by design unobserved rafting effort and on the human condition where many lives are lived without making a ripple in the fabric of society. And perhaps a third meaning, that the cool kids are so caught up in their clique that they have defined and made a cursory dismissal of everyone, blissfully unaware that awesome things are happening all around them.

There is a particularly interesting image early in the film, a shopping cart tipped over at the water's edge with a helium balloon trapped inside the inverted basket. Again this has lots of meanings, free spirit Penny trapped in the twisted metal of her wrecked car and unable to soar, Henry trapped by his grief, and Millie trapped by her defenses and unable to connect with anyone.

Then again, what do I know? I'm only a child.

That sweet and melancholic film, wrapped in sentimental madness, insane ideas and crazy behaviors, but this is how life should be lived, intensely crazy, with its magenta sneakers, its rafts in the air, towards the unexpected and adverse ... This film does more that entertains us, makes us reflect on life, and think about the people we love, a beautiful, sensitive and delicate journey... "A survey states that 67% of people die when no one is looking ... What I haven't discovered is how many people live while no one is looking "

Maisie Williams is a superb actress in everything she does,including this & Jason Sudekis does an excellent drama role. It's a wonderful movie, put together well,explaining how these 2 different people, 1 teenager& 1 adult came together through his wife & built a raft together so the girl could continue her fathers voyage. Could have done without Jason's 2 handyman, or at least the nickname for one (dumbass) & the fact that one doesn't speak any English, but other than that it kept my interest and that's a good thing 😊 It had a little bit of everything in my opinion..comedy,drama, adventure....it was happy,sad,made me laugh & cry. I recommend it! Not everyone will have the same opinion. Just give it a try.

I stumbled across this charming little movie last night.

Plot sin A Paragraph: Henry (Jason Sudiekis) an introverted architect. Who is grieving the death of his wife in a car accident, sets out to help Millie (Maisie Williams), a homeless teen, who has plans for an ambitious project.

I didn't know anything about this movie, and had never heard anything about it. It was starting on TV and in the absence of anything else to watch, I gave it a go, based on the fact that I think Sudiekis can be funny in the right role, and I love Maisie Williams in Game Of Thrones, and Cyberbully (a movie I feel should be shown in every school)

It's a wonderfully charming movie, that had me welling up. It's a well told, well acted movie that hits all the right spots and has a nice score too!! Both lead actors are heartbreaking!!

It just goes to show that you don't need a remake, a franchise, huge budget or loads of special effects!! An interesting story with great performances are all that is needed to make a good movie.

It's a shame the movie only got a small release with no promotion, and nobody seen it.