The Bookshop

A film for people who are not in a hurry. Great story. Tender performances (Emily Mortimer and Bill Nighy are wonderful). A story of stubborn determination, small village power plays and unexpected allies. Great supporting cast (Young Honor Kneafsey is a stand out). Definitely a movie for book lovers. I give this film an 8 (great) out of 10. {Drama}

The three main stars put in stellar performances, Emily Mortimer in particular shows her true acting colours in this aged tale about class and corruption. I love the story, the direction, the acting, and the way it shows at the end that despite all the corruption and badness in humans, one can touch another one in their life for a short period of time, and have a lasting positive impact on them for the rest of their lives. Beautifully done and my only regret is that I can't see it again for the first time.

I wanted to like this film, I really did. Its nicely set, the costumes and the feeling of the time and place are quite accurate. The story is ok. Its just so very flat a film. I don't mind slowly paced films, but to make up for the lack of pace they need to be charming, or witty, or nuanced.....or at the very least original. All through this film I thought of Chocolat. Similar premise in both, but Chocolat is better scripted, acted and directed. There is nothing fundamentally wrong with The Bookshop, it just underwhelms. Maybe I should have watched it on a lazy Sunday afternoon, it passes the time harmlessly. A bit like a BBC period drama.

I do not understand how this beautiful film could have such . . . abysmal ratings. I believe it deserves more credit. Anyone with a love of literature or this style of film should definitely give it a watch and appreciate it!

Once again, I see criticism of a film because it moves to slowly. It a modern curse. I looked one day and found that 25 percent of the films available were based on comic book characters. Most of them involve the same tired martial arts, with overdressed villains who are going to destroy the world. I like escape and enjoy good adventure too, but this is what mainstream cinema seems to have become, so when something introspective comes along it is seen as boring. We've given up the effort to look into the souls of people. Here is the story of a good woman who becomes victimized by a cruel town led by a rich, narcissistic human being. It is slow moving but the message is really striking. Emily Mortimer has so much emotion in her face and manner. For those of you that gave this a single point, perhaps she should have used a round kick and snapped off the old lady's head.