Year by the Sea

I reluctantly attended a viewing of this film since I was not interested in another "escape to find myself" woman's story. I was blown away by how the film touched me -- so much more so than the books which I found irrelevant to my life. Although this movie is based on a woman's story, what impressed me the most was the protagonist's husband and his story. His courage, his honesty and his humor had me in tears. The message that relationships of all sorts can flourish over time, even after hurtful challenges is a good one for all audience members, especially for American's now. Forgiveness brings growth. Even if the story-line doesn't grab you, the acting is superb... there are some stunning moments even without words that evoke so much response from the audience because of the acting. The music and cinematography will heal hearts. Turn off your devices, go see "A Year by the Sea" and be swept away by real emotion.

I did like this movie but the acting was slightly corny, production bit amateur. However it did have heart and a message.

An excellent film! Alexander Janko's screenplay masterfully combines Joan Anderson's first three books into a moving film which tells a story that women AND men can identify with...the story of reclaiming ourselves at mid-life, finding our authenticity, learning to live and laugh and find fulfillment in self and, ultimately, in relationships. The film is beautiful in scenery, music, insight and depth. Joan's story and Janko's screenplay bring the viewer moments of laughter mixed with moments of insight and clarity, substance and depth. There are lessons to learn from watching Joan's story unfold and, if we pay attention, we can all use the wisdom in this movie to help us journey towards a more authentic and fulfilling life. And while it appears to be a film for women, my husband and my 31 year old son enjoyed this film immensely (which brought me great pride in the men that they are!) This is an important film and one worth seeing!

Uses every cliché in the books.. There were audible groans at the screening I attended at a film festival. Talk on the way out was "awful" and "disappointing". The acting was good. The scenery was wonderful. The plot was lacking. The time line didn't really fit the narrative. Only one of the five people who were with me enjoyed the movie. The casting was very good. At least the producer chose the right actors for the roles. I was impressed by the scenery. It is really a very beautiful part of the world. It is very disappointing when you go to a movie with such a splendid cast and leave wishing that there was more to the story line and plot.

It would be easy to dismiss this movie as a "chick flick" and move on. And to be quite honest - nothing about this movie particularly resonated with me - a middle aged male who had little in common with the characters. Didn't resonate particularly with my middle aged girlfriend either. So for the plot - read the other reviews.

But technically - this movie had some distractions that didn't help either of us concentrate on the plot: - Too many shots of wildlife and seashore were simply too long and wandering.

• Some shots were plain out of focus. Not differential focus for depth but simply out of focus. Perhaps the editor was trying to dissolve between shots by using a shot that went out of focus and then picking up the next shot out of focus and coming into focus. Or trying to save what the camera handed them. I suspect the latter and it was distracting.

• And though I am sure what we were being presented with were quotes from the book over some shots - they seemed misplaced or even disjointed.

The whole thing needed some tighter editing to avoid these distractions. Then I might have had more time for the plot.