Book Of Love
Cert: 12A reviewed by Linda Marric
★★★★✩
Sam Claflin (Me Before You, My Cousin Rachel, Journey’s End) stars in this charming, if unquestionably far-fetched, romantic comedy from Mexican writer-director Analeine Cal y Mayor (The Boy Who Smells Like Fish).
Co-written by Cal y Mayor in collaboration with award-winning British comedy writer and esteemed music journalist David Quantick (TV Burp, The Thick of It, Veep), Book of Love is set in Mexico and tells the story of an uptight English author whose failing novel finds a new lease of life when translated to Spanish.
Claflin is Henry Copper, a hapless novelist struggling to get any traction on his newly released novel at home. Luckily for Henry, his long suffering publisher Jen (Lucy Punch) informs him that, for some unfathomable reason, his book is selling like hot cakes, but only in Mexico. Intrigued, Henry travels to Mexico for an impromptu book tour.
Unbeknownst to Henry, the novel has had somewhat of a drastic transformation when translated by strong-minded single mother Maria. Fed up with Henry’s unimaginative writing, the young woman decided to turn it into a sexy page-turner. Hilarity ensues when Henry learns the truth, leading him to question his own writing abilities.
While slightly uneven in parts, there is undeniably a lot to love about this disarmingly charming and robustly acted fish-out-of-water tale. Elevated by David Quantick’s particular brand of absurdist humour, Book of Love manages to be both touching and hilariously funny throughout.
Claflin is as charming and as compelling as ever as the buttoned-up goody-two-shoes Brit who could benefit from a good helping of passion in his life.