In the age of emoji, clandestine snail mail is enough to send any girl’s head spinning, even when it’s not addressed to her. Features journalist Ellie (likably goofy Felicity Jones) and archivist Rory (Nabhaan Rizwan) happen upon a trove of love letters while researching an obituary. Dated 1965, they belong to Jennifer Stirling (Big Little Lies’ Shailene Woodley), a married American socialite who was having an affair with British reporter Anthony O’Hare (Callum Turner).
Based on Jojo Moyes’s bestselling 2008 novel, this impeccably dressed romantic drama switches between modern-day London and honeyed flashbacks to the French Riviera, where Jennifer and Anthony fall in love against a backdrop of postcard sunsets and hotel bedrooms. Indecision and miscommunication, it turns out, are timeless. Sexiness less so, with Jones and Rizwan not quite able to summon the smouldering chemistry of Woodley and Turner.
Comments (…)
Sign in or create your Guardian account to join the discussion