Hellmant
'THE BOOK OF LOVE': Two and a Half Stars (Out of Five) A drama starring Jason Sudeikis as a depressed architect, that's struggling to get over the sudden tragic death of his pregnant wife. He then befriends a teenage runaway girl, and he helps her build a raft to sail across the Atlantic on. It costars Jessica Biel (who also co-produced the film), Maisie Williams, Orlando Jones, Paul Reiser and Mary Steenburgen. It was directed by debut feature filmmaker Bill Purple, and the script was written by Purple and Robbie Pickering. Justin Timberlake did the score music for the movie. The film had a very limited release in theaters, and it got unanimously negative reviews from critics. I was pretty disappointed with the movie as well.Henry (Sudeikis) was a happily married successful architect, with a kid on the way, until his free-spirited wife Penny (Biel) dies in a sudden car crash (along with their unborn child). Henry has a horrendous time trying to get over this, until he meets a teenage runaway girl, named Millie (Williams). Millie was someone that Henry's wife had asked him to help, so he decides to help her by helping her build a raft to sail across the Atlantic on (which has always been her dream). Henry appears to go a little crazy in the process.The movie starts out promising, and I love Jason Sudeikis (Jessica Biel is really likable in her role in this film too). Paul Reiser, Orlando Jones and Mary Steenburgen are always reliable in supporting roles as well. The fact that Timberlake wanted to compose the music for the movie also makes it seem more promising. The first time director just wasn't up to the task though, and the film is extremely cheesy and overly sentimental as a result. All of the drama is forced, and the little bit of comedy in the film doesn't work either. It's a shame, considering all of the talent involved. I really hope Sudeikis can bounce back from this.Watch our movie review show 'MOVIE TALK' at: https://youtu.be/WXRjz4hXVvs
usajet
The Book of Love was a great feel good movie with chance encounters and picking up pieces after a tragic event. Very good serious acting role for Jason Sudiekis who is normally known for his comedy roles and SNL. This was a very touching movie worth watching for adults as well as others. The music by Justin Timberlake was certainly an added bonus. Well done...!!!
celticrose-23097
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.
Robert
Just saw this at Heartland Film Festival...it had a few good, funny scenes, but the story is so full of tropes (truth delivered from young child folk voice overs, flashbacks to a "haunting" past, and characters who talk their way through "dramatic exchanges" to realizations) that I thought I might have been watching cheap television. Rather than witnessing an unfolding drama, we were presented with scene after scene of characters stupidly stumbling into a situation where they were neatly arranged in a well- lit space in convenient blocking to "discuss their issues". The movie is excessively scored in prepackaged "Hollywood" music you'd expect from a 1999 blockbuster.On a positive note, Maisie Williams is a star and I believed a lot of her character. The acting was fine...Sudeikis couldn't have done much more with the part, but his earnestness in the role is cringe- worthy because the writing is so weak. Biel is fun as an unpredictable and lovable n'Orleans lady. Sudeikis' sidekicks are a source of some of the few organic laughs. All in all, unless you're a massive Biel/Sudeikis fan, I'd skip it. Really. Without a spoiler, the movie follows the two main characters toward a literal suicide mission, but the score is optimistic and the child's voice-over is telling you otherwise - this movie has a surreal disconnect between the story it's telling in music and voice-over and the story it's showing as the characters embark on their final journey. If Herzog had told the same story, it would be clear the characters were insane rather than "on a heartfelt journey".At the q&a Biel mentioned the script went through 26 rewrites. I would be very very curious to see the original script.
AD
