Movie review: Love, Rosie

Lily Collins and Sam Claflin have great chemistry in Love, Rosie.

Great chemistry and a little farce, gives this rom-com an edge.

Cast: Lily Collins and Sam Claflin
Director: Christian Ditter
Running Time: 103 mins
Rating: M (offensive language, sexual references)
Verdict: Great chemistry and a little farce, gives this rom-com an edge.

This romantic comedy, based on Irish author Cecelia Ahern's novel Where Rainbows End, begins promisingly.

It's more dry, spirited and funny than the average American fare, and lead characters played by Lily Collins (Mortal Instruments) and Sam Claflin (Snow White and the Huntsman) are instantly likeable as best friends. Though you know exactly where the friendship is going, you don't mind.

As this story progresses, though, Love, Rosie can't help slipping into formula. After graduating from high school, Alex and Rosie - who have been best friends since aged 5 - decide to spread their wings and head to universities in Boston. On the eve of their departure Rosie discovers she's pregnant (thanks to her graduation dance date Greg and a hilarious episode with an errant condom) and delays her trip.

Not wanting to get in the way of Alex following his dream, she keeps the baby a secret from him for over a year. It turns out to be the first sign that this rom-com isn't afraid to be completely implausible (Alex and Rosie's families live pretty much across the street from each other), and is the first in a series of bombshells the couple routinely drop on each other over the next decade.

There's nothing complicated about the narrative; they take turns at turning up in each other's lives to take stock of their relationship, only to find the other is already in a relationship, engaged or married. They're the classic examples of bad timing and missed opportunity you expect in a rom-com, but work nicely as a reminder that life doesn't always work out as you hoped it would.

Love, Rosie will appeal to teenage girls, should cheer up those disappointed with the adaptation of the similarly themed One Day, and will interest those who have enjoyed the Brit-coms of Richard Curtis over the years. This adaptation with its two nuptials and one funeral, a plucky red-haired best friend, and a lead actor who makes swearing sound charming, plays out like a modernised, sassier version of a certain Curtis classic of 20 years ago.

However, for all its comparative Anglo-cisms, Love, Rosie succeeds well enough on its own, largely due to the fabulous chemistry between the leads, who bring their flawed, well-rounded characters to life in a funny, warm and amiable manner.

- TimeOut