Director
Analeine Cal y Mayor

Starring
Sam Claflin and Verónica Echegui


Given the dearth of romantic comedies that actually make it to a cinema release these days (as opposed to being churned out with underwhelming production value on Netflix); the excitement to see Book of Love was high, especially given the presence of Sam Claflin who is no stranger to the romance genre, having previously had hearts racing in fares such as Me Before You and Love, Rosie. That excitement however did wane to a more mild satisfaction by the time the final credits rolled.  

Book of Love is a neat little rom-com about first time author, Henry Copper (Claflin), whose restrained romance novel has barely made a dent in the sales charts in his native England, but has suddenly become a raging success in Mexico. When his publisher (Lucy Punch) organises a book tour of Mexico, he is paired with the books’ Spanish translator Maria Rodriquez (Verónica Echegui). Shortly after beginning the tour, Henry realises that Maria has taken more than a few liberties with the story in her translation, turning it from a dour, lackluster drawl, to a fiery, passion filled erotic novel. Despite Henry’s initial anger, it’s not long before the passion that fills his newly translated book, spills out into his relationship with Maria. The story itself is fairly formulaic, which in itself isn’t a bad thing, we always know what we’re going to expect with this genre and that’s half the appeal. What’s disappointing is the lack of any real pizazz to separate it from mass produced junk that we get on our streaming services. If I’d simply watched this sandwiched between Falling Inn Love and Holiday In The Wild, I’d probably say ‘yeah, good effort’, but I was expecting more from this one. I think part of the issue is the complete lack of charisma from Claflin himself. For most of the film I was too focused on my desire for him to wash his hair than for him to make a move on his female counterpart. I get that he was meant to be an awkward, uptight Englishman, but that doesn’t mean he has to be devoid of charm (see any rom-com starring Hugh Grant for lessons on how this could have been done right). Verónica Echegui on the other hand was a standout, it’s only a shame she was working with a plank of wood. There also wasn’t enough use of the setting itself. Mexico is a beautiful and vibrant country with a great deal of culture, none of which was really drawn upon throughout the film, as the director seemed more focused on product placement (perhaps a direct result of Buzzfeed’s relationship with the production of the film) than setting a memorable scene.

Overall Book of Love isn’t a bad film, it’s just not terribly good either. With some punchier lines and a bit more chemistry, this film could have been outstanding, but for now I’ll have to settle for ‘ok’.

Book of Love is in cinemas now.