The Book of Love | Film review - Quirky comedy-drama fails to stay afloat

The Book of Love Jason Sudeikis Maisie Williams

(Image credit: © Content Media)

How far would you go for a lost love?

Knocked off course by the sudden death of his pregnant wife Penny, a grieving architect (Jason Sudeikis) slowly regains his bearings by helping a homeless teenage orphan (Game of Thrones’ Maisie Williams) build a raft on which she plans to sail the Atlantic.

With its picturesque New Orleans setting, faux naïve voice-over and oddball characters, comedy-drama The Book of Love (aka The Devil and the Deep Blue Sea) strains to create a mood of heart-warming quirkiness but will strike most viewers as annoyingly bogus. Sudeikis and Williams’ characters aren’t remotely credible, and neither is Jessica Biel’s kooky free spirit Penny, seen mostly in flashback. Justin Timberlake, Biel’s real-life husband, provides the film’s gushy soundtrack.

Certificate 12A. Runtime 102 mins. Director Bill Purple

The Book of Love debuts on Sky Cinema Premiere on Sunday 21 May.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LkxBS6GGDLs

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A film critic for over 25 years, Jason admits the job can occasionally be glamorous – sitting on a film festival jury in Portugal; hanging out with Baz Luhrmann at the Chateau Marmont; chatting with Sigourney Weaver about The Archers – but he mostly spends his time in darkened rooms watching films. He’s also written theatre and opera reviews, two guide books on Rome, and competed in a race for Yachting World, whose great wheeze it was to send a seasick film critic to write about his time on the ocean waves. But Jason is happiest on dry land with a classic screwball comedy or Hitchcock thriller.