267. The Bookshop; movie review

THE BOOKSHOP
Cert PG
113 mins
BBFC advice: Contains mild bad language

For about 45 minutes I was a little bit in love with the quaintness of The Bookshop and its old English sensibilities.
But I waited and waited for something significant to happen and finally realised it never would.
Yes, there is a bit of treachery and tragedy but scarcely enough to create a ripple on a mill pond.
Meanwhile, its star, Emily Mortimer, is the personification of nice.
True, at one point she does shout the word 'leave' at someone who has maligned a friend but otherwise she smiles benignly at those she is trying to engage and turns the other cheek towards those who offend.
During Isabel Coixet's adaptation of Penelope Fitzgerald's novel, Mortimer's character, Florence Green is offended a great deal.
However, she always behaves with appropriate decorum.
And that will both endear and frustrate. There is not a single profanity during The Bookshop but some of the characters deserve to be on the receiving end of at least one or two.
They include the local wannabe aristocrat (Patricia Clarkson) who immediately takes against Mrs Green and her new venture.
Number two on the hit list is James Lance's layabout Milo North who also justifies a verbal lashing.
Meanwhile, ally-in-chief of Mrs Green (they stuck to surnames back in 1959) is the reclusive Edmund Brundish, played with perfect deadpan by Bill Nighy.
The Bookshop looks great - every bit the East Anglian seaside town it is mean to represent.
But the emotions are held a tad too firmly in check and not all of the contributors are quite as skilled as Mortimer, Nighy and Clarkson.
Indeed, it seems to me as if they have gone a bit overboard in maintaining the stiff upper lip.
That sums The Bookshop up - if it had been set in Victorian times I would have wanted it to break out of its corset.
They weren't around as much in the late 50s but the analogy probably fits.

Reasons to watch: A movie out of the old English school
Reasons to avoid: Very little actually happens

Laughs: None
Jumps: None
Vomit: None
Nudity: None
Overall rating: 6/10

Director quote - Isabel Coixet: "There was such little sentimentality to the novel when it tackled something that could have been very tearful and mushy. "

The big question - When did the English change from being quaintly discreet to be loud and brash?

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