Book of Love (2022) User Reviews

I want people to watch so we get better made romance movies

[txharrington · 5/10 · 7 February 2022]

It's the CUTEST idea, the acting was okay, as written, I'm sure. But that's where the problem is, there's no chemistry really written in the movie and their attraction comes out of nowhere really, even though I do like them. It needs better writing.

I just can't get over this really adorable idea not being written to its fullest.

Love the British and Mexican agents. Great personality!!

Funny...

[Thanos_Alfie · 5/10 · 7 February 2022]

"Book of Love" is a Comedy - Romance movie in which we watch a writer traveling to Mexico in order to promote even more his book after becoming a best seller there. Everything changes on his book tour since some important information reveal.

I enjoyed this movie because it had a very simple and despite that it was predictable it had a nice plot. The combination of comedy and romance was good but also predictable at many moments. The interpretations of both Sam Claflin who played as Henry Copper and Verónica Echegui who played as Maria Rodríguez were good and their combination worked very well. The differences of the two characters created a nice, funny atmosphere that followed them through the whole duration of the movie. To sum up, I have to say that "Book of Love" is a good movie to spend your time with but do not expect much or something different than all the other romantic movies.

Verónica Echegui steals every scene

[fmansoor · 7/10 · 4 February 2022]

An interesting premise that builds to a predictable climax and provokes a few laughs and a tender tear along the way. Sam Claflin does ok but Verónica is a delight who steals every scene she is in, even with her back to the camera. I look forward to seeing her again.

Bad writing ruins an interesting idea

[isaacochoterena · 3/10 · 28 April 2022]

This movie fails to give us a believable romantic comedy.

The main problem of this film is the script, there were parts where it seemed that the film had finished and another began, reflecting the lack of creativity and ingenuity of the writers to maintain a single story throughout the film, this change is very noticeable and annoying, since it seems that nothing we saw in the first half served for the second half of the plot. Even though the first half convinced me, the second half of the movie is very incongruous and goofy, it even creates a flat antagonist that doesn't make much sense to be there, just like everything feels very sudden, the whole third act is very bad since it seems very different from what we had seen in the first half. The development of the characters is not the best, as well as there are some to spare and they do not change the plot much, the romantic relationship is poorly developed and seems very forced, thanks also to the lack of chemistry between the leading actors, many things turn out ridiculous and illogical. The comedy is very goofy and most of the jokes feel very forced, the acting is not the best but the actors try to do a good job, the dialogue is very awkward to watch as well as the conversations seem very forced. Although it does not show all the beauty of the places where the story is located, it does show decently the architect of those places.

It's a shame that an interesting idea was wasted in this unmemorable and poorly written story, it had everything to be funny and entertaining, but it just wasn't.

Very fun watch

[marykdunkle · 7/10 · 18 February 2022]

A lot of reviews are chastising this film for not being original. There are so many films being made these days, original is hard to come by. What matters is how a story is told and the characters. I loved how this story was told and I loved the characters. It was interesting seeing both characters unfold. The Mexican setting was charming and lovely. The supporting characters provided refreshing humor. I was entertained from start to finish.

Bad characters and bad writing

[napierslogs · 3/10 · 6 February 2022]

Book of Love is the type of romantic comedy you want to like more than you actually do. They cast Sam Claflin, and then can't do anything else right. He's like a 35-year-old boomer. He knows nothing about social media, complaining about young people "these days", and is generally out-of-touch and mostly cranky and a little misogynistic.

Maria is worse. Every single joke is a variation of her turning his book into erotica. He's mad and she doesn't understand why he isn't thanking her for turning his book into a "masterpiece". The movie and every character in it has confused "popular" with "good". I'm sure E. M. Forster would love to have Howard's End re-written into 50 Shades of Gray. The boomer Henry from the beginning of the movie is not going to forgive and then fall in love with Maria so quickly. And they also have no chemistry.

Enjoyable and predictable

[dbuckshnis · 7/10 · 10 February 2022]

The English dude is a bit dry but grew on me and who doesn't love good writers. Maria is adorable and who doesn't love telenovela. The ex husband is funny. The music is great and just fun.

Possibly one of the worst movies Ive watched.

[mr_bickle_the_pickle · 2/10 · 6 February 2022]

So I was looking for a cheesy movie last night. And I came across this and thought it could fit the bill (and hey I like Sam Claflin so bonus). Well, its cheesy all right...but also so much worse than I was expecting. Not only is it cliched (which I was expecting) but the plot is absolutely ridiculous from the start. We find out that Henry (Sam Claflin) has only sold 3 copies of his book, 1 being himself. His publisher also absolutely hates the book, all because its so boring. Then why the F was it published to begin with? And its his first novel too, so its not like a case where hes an established writer and he was contracted by the publishers to write a book by X date. It was his first novel. Publishing companies don't just publish anything that comes across their desks. I know we need to have this conflict to establish his book needing a re-write later on - but I feel like this could have been changed to either a self-publish thing or like, he wrote a great novel once and hes lost his spark or something. Or that maybe this book isnt a total failure but super divisive.

But anyway, moving on. Henry discovers his book is extremely big in Mexico and his publisher wants him to do a book tour in Mexico. And needs to have a conversation about social media for promotion sake. Again, not sure why a discussion about having an online presence is coming now, and not before his book was released...but whatever. It isnt soon before long that he discovers that his translator completely re-wrote the book into a straight on Harelquin romance type of novel. And hes understanbly upset. I get his book was boring and not doing well, but the movie makes it out like he's crazy for not being thrilled about this. Like, you changed his words and story. It doesnt matter if its making money now - its not his anymore. And the movie feels the need to throw in the feminist "Woe is me, my words have a man's name on the cover - I will never have that success because Im a woman" angle and its like Maam, nobody asked you to re-write the book. You could have just done an actual translation of the book, got your coin and not given a crap if it flopped. And they spend practically the whole movie at each other's throats not seeing eye to eye on ANYTHING up until they decide to do the nasty. And for a movie that goes into length about how smutty and passionate this book is....its the most vanilla love scene ever. And of course, this one act and suddenly theyre in love. But again, I was expecting that cliche to a point. But unfortunately the two leads have zero chemistry.

You can also tell the movie had an incredibly small budget because they decide to re-use the same fans for each book stop he makes. Maybe the director thought it was a funny gag, its not.

The movie was so bad, that I honestly scrubbed through the film minutes at a time trying to make the movie go faster.

It made me smile

[smr273 · 6/10 · 15 February 2022]

Of course it is predictable. It is a rom com. I really liked the actors, particularly when being funny rather than ernest. Yeah, the plot point that he got published (not a spoiler, is point of the movie) despite being a boring book doesn't work. Publishers wouldn't publish this nonsense. And storyline could have been more engaging, but overall, it made me smile, and I enjoyed it. I liked the music too. Closeups of actors were a little too close.

I'm confused...

[puredaydream · 2/10 · 1 January 2023]

This movie left me confused...

1. Sam Clafflin looked out of his depth? I feel like he didn't want to be a part of this movie but someone forced him to?

2. There was no chemistry between the two leads. It's almost like they chose two random actors and put them together without testing whether they had chemistry or not...

3. They 'fell in love' way too fast. For most of the movie, they were either constantly surrounded by people or had weird interactions with each other which didn't leave enough room for them to bond. Then we got like 10 minutes of them writing the book together and going out and boom they 'fell in love'?

4. What's up with the script? It was very incohesive. It felt like it was written by 5 different people. Not co-written, just written. Almost like: 'hey, I did my part, your turn'; without checking whether the script flowed nicely or made any sense.

5. The two main characters were unlikeable and there was almost 0 character development. Henry is uptight and fussy and Maria is hotheaded with a victim mentality.

The idea had potential but fell short.

Great fun romcom

[simonbooth9350 · 8/10 · 14 February 2022]

A very enjoyable film. Lots to smile at. Passes the 6 laugh test easily, which is always a good sign.

Like the story. Yes, it is a bit predictable, but no less enjoyable for that. It has some good characters and good pace.

Take your brain out of gear, sit down with a glass of wine and your partner and enjoy an hour and a half of good old entertainment.

Fresh, fun, campy, cute

[risenk · 7/10 · 6 February 2022]

This romantic comedy is well cast, funny, sometimes predictable, yet you will still smile. The music arraingement was well done. I loved the cultural clashes, and real Mexican scenery. My wife and I watched it twice.

Just Bad

[chobaugh · 2/10 · 16 February 2022]

This movie is very bad. It's not even comically bad. It's just very bad. I stopped watching with seven minutes left. SEVEN. I sat through the entire movie, yet could not stomach the last seven minutes.

There is zero chemistry between Sam Clafin & Verónica Echegui, the writing is terrible, and the plot is quite odd.

If you watch this movie, don't tell your friends.

Epic fail, poor writing, zero chemistry, 2/10 is huge for this

[capitanotm · 2/10 · 1 November 2022]

Beginning is decent since its kinda only Sam Claffin in it, but after this main actress appears and others this movie just goes down as fast as possible.

There is not even zero chemistry between two of them, other actors are disaster (only grandpa is ok), story is horribly executed, even tho idea is decent, maybe even good - with way better writers and way way better actors (Sam can stay ofc, he is the highlight).

Sam is the highlight of the movie, but he is kinda under his level because of all the others.

Too bad for the idea, it was just an epic fail od execution, 2/10 just because of Sam, otherwise it would be -1 out of 10.

Book Of Love through my eyes

[Aarthi-NY · 7/10 · 5 February 2022]

Book of love - the title opts for the story.

Actors made justice to their characters.

Songs are wonderful.

The beginning starts slow and not very exciting but this story is so relevant to people who get sometimes lost and do not know how their path to success could be very confusing.

A boring new book writer Henry to a hot romantic best-selling writer in Mexico was an unexpected twist and then found out a woman translator Maria rewrite his book by changing it to what people want to hear in Spanish on Mexico book tour. She has issues with her husband who has never been responsible.

The struggles in Mexico were portrayed well. Learning Spanish and dealing with Maria and not knowing what to do but the publicist insists on staying with the flow as money and fame are happening. At the end of the tour publicist suggests he write another book but this time along with Maria, finally they together write a book with some conditions and compromises.

Eventually, they fall in love and make out but due to her husband's jealousy element they go apart finally, the book gets published with their two names on it. In the end, they get together.

Annoying storyline

[ives_damian · 1/10 · 13 May 2022]

How does a translator get away with this?? And worst...she actually had the audacity to tell him he can't write the second book without her! Couldn't keep watching after that. Wish I didn't waste my time. I've loved all of Sam's movies...sorry but not this one....she ruined it for me.

It's a romcom

[TVAddict404 · 6/10 · 12 February 2022]

People are so negative. Ignore the haters - it's a cute, light romcom. Sometimes we need those. The leads have an easy chemistry, and Sam Claflin is generally adorable.

Forgive me Father, it has been 5 years since my last... review

[TVfan · 3/10 · 20 February 2022]

Yep, 5 years since I last reviewed a movie on IMDB, but just thought I'd try to save everyone a wasted evening. But if you are going to watch it, be prepared -- the comedy starts IN the film, but ends up being the film itself.

It is such a fun premise (though implausible) and the acting was decent. I laughed my butt off during the first book signing in Mexico. But after that? The story lost a credible path to resolution.

Repeating the same gags over and over became very old. Using the same extras over and over seemed on the cheap. I thought that maybe the writer of this film was guilty of what he'd accused his main character of -- of having no life experience -- but, no, that's not the case. David Quantick is in his 60s, so I'm pretty sure he has some life experience, and he definitely has a lot of writing credits to his name.

I've thought about how one could script doctor this "gone awry" script, but not really sure it could be fixed. There were some missed moments that could have been taken advantage of to give the story a path. Maybe giving the main character and his original book (before translated) a little more respect could have helped give the characters and premise more credibility, thereby providing for a more credible direction and resolution. 1h 6 m was much too long for this film. Maybe a 94 minute edit would help? Not really sure what could be done to fix it.

Oh well. Two hours of water under the bridge.

P. S. Watching Veronica trying to get over the railing in the melodramatic ending was almost worth the watch. But again, you are not laughing with the film, but AT it.

Awful

[jeffrapage · 7 February 2022]

Probably one of the worst movies terrible chemistry terrible writing just plain terrible all the way around I'd rather watch paint dry than ever watch this movie again.

Super cute romcom

[gmrmbgnh · 7/10 · 22 August 2022]

Predictable plot but I thought the premise was super cute and unique. Loved the last 10 minutes very silly and novela like. Definitely a good movie to watch on a rainy day just to relax.

Bad writing, no chemistry. Hated the lead actress

[TRISROUGE-83 · 1/10 · 10 June 2022]

The only good thing here is Cafflin and he feels out of place in this movie. The actress is a miss and she's so hostile and has cero chemistry.

The idea was good but it was badly executed.

This reminds me of the terrible and cancelled unaired Pilot for the Big Bang Theory when there was a Katie (mean and always upset and angry) instead of cheerful Penny...

What a treat for Valentine day!

[yasenmichev · 10/10 · 13 February 2022]

Gorgeous romantic comedy, made in the way they use to make them before CGI. Great cast, delightful story, predictable but sweet ending, just a under the blanket rainy weekend fun for a couple. Well done to the makers, really happy that you created this movie!

Predictable

[melissa-26218 · 6/10 · 27 April 2022]

It was .. ok. I watched since was about Mexico. But yet the actress isn't even Mexican, she's Spanish... An ocean away from Mexico. So many amazing talented Mexican actresses and couldn't even get a real Mexican actress for a Mexican part. Sad.

I'm a fan of Veronica's but not in this movie. There is no Mexican in her acting, it's bad acting. She needs to stick with Spanish roles.

I love Sam, but he deserves better than this movie and bad acting with Veronica. No chemistry at all, so forced.

A modern morality tale

[david-4672 · 3/10 · 20 February 2022]

In previous times, romcoms could be characterised as two strong characters leads that decide to compromise for the sake of love.

As required for modern day morality we have a spirited, bright, but not particularly beautiful, leading lady matched with a talentless bore of a guy. And the transformative element is that the guy has to comletely accept and acknowledge that he is totally talentless.

The fundamental problem for the viewer is to understand how on Earth the girl could possibly fall for this talentless loser.

Horrible characters, pretty scenery.

[ktrawick · 3/10 · 17 April 2022]

I hated the translator from the start. Let's her baby daddy off the hook with a smile, totally changes the original author's work, then is glib about what she has done to it, ignoring the fact that he is very upset by belittling his book, and him as well. Then she has the audacity to tell her son she can't say she wrote it, because she is female. Will the sequel be about her son who is seeing a therapist about his lying mother and a father who can't be a dad? I will be honest. Stopped watching about twenty minutes or so into the movie, just long enough to know this was not my cuppa.