[yasr_overall_rating]
England 1959. In a small East Anglian town, Florence Green decides, against polite but ruthless local opposition, to open a bookshop.
“The Bookshop” is a sleepy little movie you might pause on while scrolling through the channels, probably on BBC as the movie is British and slower paced than most of the current American movies. Despite the slow pace and the dreary English countryside, the movie is a pretty gem lost on the beach waiting to be discovered. “The Bookshop” is a film adaptation – already released overseas – from a book written by Penelope Fitzgerald, and along with director Isabel Coixet, the book became a movie.
Set off the coast of England in 1959, widow Florence Green (Emily Mortimer) opens a bookshop in one of her town’s beloved historical buildings left to rot for decades. Most of the town would rather see the building left alone. Florence presses on with her plans to open her beloved shop – a shop to commemorate her husband’s memory and find a fulfilling life without her late spouse. After six months of paperwork and other townsfolk trying to convince her another building may be more favorable to her needs, she finally owns the property and sets up shop.
Violet, the rich town elder played by Patricia Clarkson, spends her days plotting ways to remove Florence from the building she hoped to turn into an arts center for a low-income working town. She goes to great lengths convincing the town to criticize Florence out of the beloved building in vain before turning to legal methods of turning the building into a historic relic unfit for anything other than a town memorial. Florence ignores all of her opponents and sets books on shelves along with a new school-aged assistant named Christine (Honor Kneafsey), a fiery girl ready to set the world ablaze with sass. Along the way, a wealthy local man, Edmund Brundish (Bill Nighy), who locks himself in a mansion with just books to keep him company, hears of the new shop and sends a letter requesting Florence pass on new and interesting books his way.
Over time, the lonely widow finds fulfillment in her shop and the new relationships she has formed with Edmund by letter and their common interest in unique stories. Childless Florence finds the tenacious Christine to be a breath of fresh air and a hard-worker. Life settles down, and the store thrives until Violet convinces town officials to make the building a historic relic and relieve Florence of her home and livelihood. Her hatred convinces the town to not repay Florence for the banknote but to simply seize the property and remove her from the property Violet wants so desperately. With a deep debt and no friendly faces in town, Florence leaves but not before seeing irony resolve the situation she left.
Emily Mortimer as Florence is like an awkward, middle-aged Audrey Hepburn. Her quiet elegance and strength exude from her like perfume. Despite the drab town and dull storyline, the personalities and the deep desire to have that which is not ours is what drives the movie to a beautiful ending. Christine is charming in her brash determination and willingness to improve life and move out of her impoverished environment. Edmund is quirky and breathed life into the otherwise mundane story. The film needed more life though, despite a couple of nameless faces that came to badger Florence.
Having not read the book, I am not sure if director Isabel Coixet left humor out in honor of the book or to maintain a perfunctory ambiance, but do not expect to laugh, which is sad as a little humor could have perked up this wallflower. A sweet tale with raw edges told simply with no extras is not a movie I would spend money to see in the theater, but if you chance across the movie on BBC while scrolling through the guide, take the time to enjoy this story about a strong widow. Sadly, the strength of the characters was not capable of inducing enough charm to move the film into audiences’ hearts as it is a little too stiff and formal. Sunshine may not be necessary but the plot was too small for the accompanied stiffness and lack of comedy.
In theaters Friday, August 31st
