Love, Rosie-Review: Love, for Rosie, is not rosy

When a film is full of tender and emotional moments but peppers itself with half-a-dozen comic interludes, it ends up confusing your sentiments. You ask yourself whether the characters deserve sympathy or should be laughed at. Considering the swings in the narrative, you begin to feel that the writers cannot be serious. So, why do they bring in grim, sad events so strongly? In its defence, Love, Rosie is a bit like life, of the fact-is-stranger-than-fiction kind. Unfortunately, it is not good cinema.

Rosie and Alex have been best friends since they were five years-old, so they couldn’t possibly be right for one another…or could they? When it comes to love, life and making the right choices, these two are their own worst enemies. One awkward turn at 18, one missed opportunity… and life sends them hurling in different directions. But somehow, across time, space and different continents, despite unwanted pregnancies, disastrous love affairs, marriage, infidelity and divorce, they find themselves back at square one. Love, for Rosie, is anything but rosy.

Juliette Towhidi (Calendar Girls, Pemberley, P.S. I Love You), has written the screenplay, based on Irish author Cecelia Ahern’s 2004 novel Where Rainbows End. Childhood pals falling in love and unable to realise the progression from friendship to love is a common theme, both in international and Indian cinema. What is new here is the convoluted course this friendship takes and the successive liaisons the lead pair get into. An interesting sub plot is the keenness of all the 19-20ish characters to lose their virginities and the Catholic family of the heroine deciding not to get an abortion. There is also a class statement, with the heroine’s ‘hero’ father being a lowly hotel employee and she herself ending up as a member of the hotel’s house-keeping staff.

Helmed by 38 year-old German director Christian Ditter (Verzaubert, Grounded Vorstadtkrokodile, Wickie and The Treasure of The Gods, French for Beginners), the film rarely strikes a chord, though there are moving moments and laugh lines at regular intervals. Members of the cast appear uni-dimensional and gullible/short-sighted almost all through the film. Ditter takes an ambivalent stand towards their morals and does not bother to justify or rationalise any of their actions. In the end, Love, Rosie becomes a pointless exercise.

Startlingly similar in looks to Indian actress Kitu Gidwani, Lily Collins maintains a forlorn gaze and is inadvertently the focus of a few comic scenes. Sam Claflin (Alex) and Christian Cooke (Greg) as the two men in her life have similar features and well-toned bodies, with little to challenge them in the area of histrionics. Street-smart Ruby is played smartly by Jaime Winstone, mouthing an accent that needs to be filtered through a processor. The long-legged model Bethany is Suki Waterhouse, who looks and acts the part. As the sister-pecked Phil, Jamie Beamish first gives the impression of being gay, looking for a homosexual encounter, later settling down to a suppressed soul act. Tamsin Egerton plays his domineering sister Sally, and dominate she does. Lorcan Cranitch and Ger Ryan make a nice Mr. and Mrs. Dunne, Rosie’s parents. Watch out for a cameo from Damien Devaney, who gets you two good, solid chuckles.

Love, Rosie would be more intelligible if it had been sub-titled. Yes, there are some viewers who can comprehend various British, American, Australian, Canadian and other accents on screen, but distributors must spare a thought for those who are not so gifted.

Rating: **

Trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SqSE6Kzuht0