The Bookshop

Coixet occasionally overplays her hand – a dropped headscarf, a sudden death – as does a constipated Bill Nighy in the role of the reclusive widower who is Florence’s one ally, but overall, the film is stealthily impressive.

Its subversive undercurrent, embodied in fine performances by Emily Mortimer and Bill Nighy, is what makes it really interesting.

Wistful but never sentimental, it quietly turns the fortunes of one little store into a comment on the fate of many.

Although it’s anchored by a deeply felt performance by the wonderful Emily Mortimer, with a marvelous supporting turn by the always-welcome Bill Nighy, the film, scripted and directed by Spanish filmmaker Isabel Coixet (“Elegy,” “Learning to Drive”), is at times a bit too mustily mounted and told to keep us as fully immersed as we might like.

The Bookshop isn’t an especially good film, but there’s no shortage of good in it.

Green's relationship with reclusive bibliophile Edmund Brundish (Nighy) is the most effective component, even if it does owe such a glaring debt to the superior "84 Charing Cross Road" (sorry, "You've Got Mail," but still the ne plus ultra of bookstore movies).

The Bookshop is steadfast in avoiding drama at all costs.

This is a gentle paced, pleasant enough watch. The story is fairly interesting, if perhaps a little basic but its an easy watch, which is sometimes just what I'm looking for. The characters, namely that of the store owner, Florence Green, played by Emily Mortimer and Edmund Brundish, a local loner plated by Bill Nighy, are nice enough. The film has a pretty setting, being filmed in northern Ireland as well as in Europe, although the story is primarily set in East Anglia (you can read more about that on the films entry at IMDB). There are some nice pieces of dialogue and while it is a slow paced film, I didn't find myself overwhelmingly bored, so I'd say its a pretty good film but obviously, somewhat inevitably, its not one that will appeal to everyone (then again, who knows what one film does, frankly?). I suppose there are thought provoking aspects to it - primarily the juxtaposition between the pretty setting and the not so 'pretty' criticisms and opinions of the locals. Its set in the late 1950s, so I suppose as a bit of nostalgia its quite good, from that perspective. One of the books featured in the film is Lolita but there's no sex references/scenes in this film, I can assure you! its been rated PG in the UK, for parental guidance, although I didn't notice anything obviously shocking or offensive, for the record. I'd say overall this is a good film.

Una dirección magistral, súper bonita de ver, y Mortimer mola bastante, guay.

The cinematic equivalent of spending a long afternoon in a historic old bookshop. Perfect for those who'd consider that a dream day, but for moviegoers who'd like a story wider in scope, the film leaves a lot of story elements unexplored.

Though beautifully photographed and well acted, this overlong tedious slog features a rather inconsequential story that could have been presented and dispensed with in far shorter order than what's on offer here. The belabored dialogue tends to needlessly drone on and on over matters that ultimately just aren't as significant as they're made out to be. And while the film is obviously intended to unfold like a good book, the pacing of the story in cinematic form needs to move along at a faster clip than its literary counterpart, which, regrettably, is far from the case here.

I watched this movie with four other women of various ages. We all thought it was terrible! I believe it was **** bookshop owner should have been older if we wanted any belief and/or investment in her love story. The story overall is just plain boring (and I have a high tolerance for slow moving films) and nothing really happens. Do people really like this? So confused.