Book of Love

First things first. So far this film has about an average vote of 3.5/10 stars on IMDb, which I think is kind of surprising, because it's not that bad. I expected about a 5 or 6 rating. Yes, it's muddled and kind of pointless at times, and the ending is pretentiously ambiguous. But as a character study -- despite it's flaws -- it is a rather effective one that manages to explore the love triangle between two older people and a younger teenager.

The movie's casual treatment of sexuality involving adults and a 15-year-old is kind of disturbing at first, but kudos to Alan Brown (director and writer) for getting away with it. He handles it right - it never nears exploitation - and as a result the story doesn't seem cheap and tacky like "Intimacy." However my problems lie with the script itself. It's got too many repetitive moments and some scenes are kind of wandering and make you say, "Huh?" The performances are alright. The only actor I recognized in the cast was Gregory Smith ("Small Soldiers"), playing a fifteen-year-old, which is kind of silly because he looks about 20 (at the least). I suppose they had problems with younger casting because of the love scenes between the leads.

Essentially the story centers around three people in a small town - a 30-something high school teacher, his wife, and a local kid - and how their friendship soon turns into something else. The kid has an affair with the wife, the husband finds out, and hatred forms.

It's an interesting movie because it's daring and different, but it has its flaws - a stronger script, better cast and more responsible and experienced director would result in a much better picture.

I was certainly surprised to see that so many IMDb reviews had given high ratings for this film. Personally, aside from the effectiveness of the feeling you get as you become involved with the characters (see below), I thought that the characters themselves were either annoying or completely stupid and that the movie itself, overall, lacked any novelty and really enough substance that, at least for me, would have me holding it in such high regard.

'Book of Love,' if nothing else certainly brings out the awkwardness of a couple distraught by one's extramarital affair (even if only brief). Do they just pretend nothing happened? Or, even if they try to deal with the situation, there is always that little reminder in the back of their heads that this person has slept with someone else...can they really be trusted anymore? 'Book of Love' at least does this much effectively, allowing us the vicarious uneasy feeling that at least the married couple seem to endure after the affairs is made known. As for everything else, however, the situation is neither knew and there is relatively little substance to deal with (which may explain why we stroll through scenes habitual nonsense like those of Simon Baker urinating or some moments with Gregory Smith).

This is the story of a young couple (Frances O'Connor and Simon Baker) who befriend a fifteen-year old kid from the neighborhood (Gregory Smith). The story is simple: the wife, not at all seductive in the way we may picture a voluptuous Mrs. Robinson type, has an affair with the boy. There is relatively little to suggest that there was any kind of rift between O'Conner and Baker's character from the beginning, so what reason she may have for submitting to the boy (other than oddly being aroused by his skinny body one afternoon in the ice cream shop), she has an affair with him. She later admits this to her husband and the rest of the movie is the three of these people trying to restore things to some kind of normalcy that existed before the mess happened.

But, there is too much unbelievability and not enough sound reason, for the affair to have happened in the first place. Was she just bored? Stupid? And really, what the hell did she think was going to happen when she told her husband? And, why was Gregory Smith's character all of a sudden aware that he'd done something wrong only when the wife tells him that she confessed to her husband? How idiotic.

And then, in that sort of 'Dreamers' or 'Y Tu Mama Tambien' way, to throw this story into a parallel with bits of history about the Khmer Rouge of Cambodia (Baker's character is a history teacher at an all-girls school).

Nonetheless, the rest of the film is these three characters existing in a very strange relationship, probably with Baker's being the most permanently removed, Gregory Smith being the one to pretend that nothing happened and that everything will probably be okay (or at least have the presence of such), while the wife seems to be mad at the husband for forcing the three of them together again and throwing it in her face.

There isn't a whole lot there. None of the characters are all that interesting and in the end, I came away from it with an almost indifference for the story and characters. What's the big deal? And yet, while some did criticize this film as being the worst that Sundance had to offer that year (I would agree), many did praise it. To my fellow IMDb reviewers: it is not sacrilegious to admit that an Indie film (even one from Sundance) is not great. Not even good. This one included.

The young couple Elaine Walker (Frances O'Connor) and the history teacher David Walker (Simon Baker) meets a fifteen years old lonely teenager Chet Becker (Gregory Smith) in an ice-cream shop and they become friends. David has a crush on Elaine and they have one night stand. Elaine tells her infidelity to David, and their life is affected by the affair.

When I saw the very low IMDb rating of "Book of Love", I questioned whether it would be worthwhile watching this movie. Fortunately I decided to see it, since it is a good romance, with some eroticism and a simple story, but a great and credible conclusion. I regret only the thirty-one minutes of trailers in the beginning of the VHS released in Brazil by California Filmes, probably a shameful worldwide record. My vote is six.

Title (Brazil): "Traição" ("Betrayal")

I saw this at a Slamdance Best Of screening in the East Village. I go to all their films there. This was an intelligent, quiet film with really great acting from all three leads. I liked it at first because it didn't try to push any messages or morals on me. Then I started to think about it afterward, and as time went by, it impressed me more and more. It seems to be about a lot of important things. It made me question how people behave and how I judge people. I hate to use the word 'haunting,' it sounds like a cliché, but the film did end up haunting me. I went out and rented other films with these actors (see Francis O'Conor in Mansfield Park!), and also found one by the director, a short called O Beautiful, which is also very good and (here I go again) 'haunting.' So, see if you have a chance.

A young married couple befriends a lonely teenage boy in an ice cream shop. As the friendship blossoms, romantic feelings develop between the wife and the boy. It's a provocative story with contemporary relevance. Withy a backdrop of New Age philosophy "Book Of Love" explores the impact of this unsettling romance on the three individuals.

The acting of the three leads is fine. But the screenplay is thin. Even with a runtime of just 83 minutes, there's just not that much substance. Director Alan Brown tries to draw a parallel between the wife's mistakes in judgment and the mistakes of the Khmer Rouge in Cambodia, a parallel that seems contrived at best. Further, the wife's involvement with the boy lacks a motivational basis, given her current marriage. And her behavior seems way too casual to be credible.

Nominated for an award at the Sundance Film Festival, "Book Of Love" at least tries to do something daring. It is low-key, and not at all exploitative. The background music is interesting. And, as a low budget film, the production values are credible. On the other hand, the script probably does not have enough conflict or plot complication to engage most viewers. The story seems too direct and too linear to be compelling.