I usually think twice before posting a critical review, but I believe that a review should be always honest and I honestly didn't enjoy this movie very much (or part 2, or 3, which had just more of the same). I know that Passionflix wanted to bring an adaption true to the book to the screen, but unfortunately this movie proves that it doesn't always work like that. Books and movies are different mediums, and what works on the page doesn't always work on the screen.
Even if the actors looked their parts, especially Giulio Berruti as Gabriel Emerson, it wasn't enough to convince me. I really tried not to allow myself to be distracted by his slight Italian accent, but it just kept disturbing me on top of his relatively wooden performance. I can't help it, but a voice and subsequently an actor's accent are a huge thing for me and can either win me over or make me dislike a character altogether. I know that he put a lot of effort into his performance and I value that, but it still didn't do the trick for me in the end.
The same goes for Julia, played by Melanie Zanetti. She might have the doe-like appearance required for the virginal leading lady, but her endless staring from her big brown eyes, then constantly lowering her gaze and biting her lip. It all just got old quickly.
I was also missing the internal monologues from the book, which added a lot of humour and additional insight to the story. So many scenes just had Gabriel and Julia staring meaningfully at each other, and while the readers knew what was going on inside the characters' heads, it still looked awkward, like they didn't really know what to do except stare and then stare a little bit more. Maybe a voice-over narrator could have added some extra flavour to those scenes.
The one I liked the most was actually Rachel, Julia Barrett-Mitchell. She was positively refreshing and came across really natural. I didn't particularly care much for Paul, played by James Fraser, but that's probably because he didn't have a likeable personality in the book to begin with. I mean, who calls a girl he's interested in 'rabbit'? That's really condescending and would be a personal turnoff for me.
Overall, the movie left me unsatisfied as it felt largely life- and bloodless, like an insipid meal missing the essential spices. I'm well aware that Passionflix is a small and relatively new company aiming to bring romance books to the TV-screen, so the budget is considerably smaller than other companies have at their disposal, but that doesn't mean that one cannot also bring something artistic to life even on a tight budget. Unfortunately, this movie was not a raging inferno of passion, but just a few meagerly flickering embers.
