Predictable and dull

Rating: 2/10 (9 May 2020)

Watching this is like eating pasta without any sauce: it needs something to liven it up. It's a "nice" film without any convincing drama or interest. Lily James plays the leading role but without credibility. (The scene in which she is imitating a yawn/stretch at her typewriter reminded me of my own awful rehearsal for my GCSE Drama exam). Unfortunately, there was no depth to this character. Lily James is usually a good actress but I'd guess here that the director, Mike Newell, unwittingly focused on the actress' beauty rather than her acting ability. In one scene, we watch Lily dutifully flutter her eyelids perfectly as she watches a balloon float to the ceiling. There are too many scenes like this, one in particular when one character dubiously offers a pathetic swoon, "you're beautiful" and Lily fakes embarrassment. I squirmed with embarrassment myself as I watched their performance in this scene, like so many others in this film. I'd have preferred to focus on the real story of the film - and the one that Lily is researching - which became somehow reduced in importance or supplementary to a cliched love story.
The love story? There's no on-screen chemistry between Lily James and Michiel Huisman, and their story felt mechanically orchestrated rather than genuine.
Overall, I felt the whole performance was quite amateur and the story lacked intrigue or humour to keep me engaged. Apparently, much of the original story was omitted to the detriment of the film and could have ensured adequacy of characters and plot to sustain interest. I did watch it to the end and immediately thought, what a waste of time. Yet the cast is pretty good; it's just that the director has not brought out the best in them or the story. The best performance by far is by Penelope Wilton, whose ice-cold reception at the start is palpable and whose character adapts well to changing circumstances.