Checked out the direct-to-streaming/video movie The Book of Love starring Jason Sudeikis, Maisie Williams, and Jessica Biel. This is the story of a man who loses his wife and unborn child in a traffic accident who seeks out a local teenage girl to help him heal and to help her build a raft so she can sail the ocean, Moana-style (or Thor Heyerdahl style, to be fair). The girl, played by Williams (Arya Stark from Game of Thrones), is a local orphan who spends her days scrounging debris from around New Orleans to build her raft (because her dad died on such a raft) and Sudeikis is looking for purpose and his wife had commented off-hand about seeing the girl in the neighborhood before she died.
The relationship between Sudeikis and Williams is non-creepy (though she accused him of bein’ a perv) and is kind of mildly heart-warming. Two damaged people, he an architect who can help her dream, she an edgy Cajun ragamuffin.
The movie is alright. There’s a lot of purple prose and pseudo-profound platitudes and it all means well. It just never really pops as either the “wounded man finds purpose”, “two wounded people help each other live”, or, “Wounded girl needs to build a raft and float out to sea” movie it wants to be. Lots of movies like that last one out there, amiright?
So, yeah, the cast is good and they try hard though Maisie Williams’ Cajun accent needs some work. Sudeikis is probably a better comedian than he is a dramatic actor but he tries. It’s pretty harmless and some folk might find it heart-warming and its call to adventure profound. I was lukewarm.
Score: 71