Disc Reviews
Love, Rosie Review
Love, Rosie wasn’t particularly well received at its cinematic release. Reviewers called it “feeble”, “overwrought” and “schmaltzy”, praising female lead Lily Collins as the only bright spark in it. Not so. Saying that Collins is the only bright spark in this otherwise pretty dull Romcom is doing an injustice to Sam Claflin who really does his best to bring to life the only male character (bar two, one of them Rosie’s dad) who isn’t completely unlikeable (but also a little bit dull).
Selling a Romcom with two hot young actors as leads to anyone who enjoys Romcoms (and who has perhaps shed a tear or two over the last Ahern adaptation P.S. I love you) should be easy enough. Turns out, perhaps it isn’t.
The story of Rosie (Collins) and Alex (Claflin), two childhood friends who, over a span of some 15 years, fail at becoming the item they are destined to be, might just have you biting your nails. Not because the suspense is too much but because the plot feels frustratingly forced. Following their one missed opportunity (at 18, no less) of making their feelings known to each other, Sam moves to Boston to live their shared dream on his own while Rosie stays behind pregnant (not by Alex). In what follows, Alex and Rosie keep getting tangled up in various relationships with partners who are not only wrong for them but also morons, jerks or hysterics (Tamsin Egerton delightfully so, credit where credit is due). In fact, the only supporting character apart from the dad who is, albeit totally token, in any way likeable is Rosie’s bestie, thanks to Jaime Winstone’s delightful performance.
The time-span doesn’t quite work. Alex and Rosie are supposed to age more than 10 years. The problem is, they don’t. They continue to look the same at twenty-eight as they do at eighteen, to the undesired effect that Rosie’s daughter Katie seems to age at superhuman speed like the Vampire kid in Twilight. Her being Lily Collins’ daughter seems less and less probable as the film drags on. The soundtrack doesn’t seem to be catching up with the progressed age of the characters either; going by the girly selection of songs, this might be one never-ending school dance which, in a way, it is.
The one thing the film really has going for it is Rosie herself. You would think that someone with that shambolic a life would eventually succumb to self-pity and chocolate (or worse, if this weren’t Ahern’s fluffy world) but she doesn’t. She not only rises to the challenges (and the really awful timing) life and the script throw at her but also seems thoroughly happy with her lot, in contrast to Alex who is living their supposed dream.
The DVD release doesn’t do much for the film, either. There are a couple of enjoyable trailers but by way of extras, the interviews with Claflin, Collins and Ahern are pretty much the usual waffle about how much they enjoyed making this film, how great it was to work with everybody, and what their characters are like. The Making-Of is more of the same, only edited.
If you are a sucker for Cecilia Ahern, you will probably still have a good time watching Love, Rosie around Christmas time or on Valentine’s Day. If you have a soft spot for either of the two main actors, you will appreciate their performances, Collins’ in particular. For everyone else, however, Collins and Claflin have done greater things and it is comforting to know that they will probably continue to do so. All in all, Love, Rosie is too formulaic and contrived to make it to the Romcom hall of fame.
Anne Korn
Love, Rosie is released on EST 14th February 2015, on DVD & Blu-Ray 2nd March 2015