There are better movies of two hours length. I loved the actress'performance.

The film creates a perfect balance between action and depth of basic needs, in the midst of an infertile atmosphere.

It's the kind of movie you'll want to see a second time with someone who hasn't seen it yet, to remember what it was like to watch it for the first time.

There are moments in this movie where the great movie it could've been peek out... They're fleeting, here, but they're worth savoring, and they happen often enough to make it worth your while.

Two reasons for 2 stars instead of 1: 1. Jessica Biel appears in it (not stars in it, otherwise it would get 3-4 stars) 2. 1 star is reserved for truly stupid films.Oh, wait. This IS a truly stupid film, so Jessica Biel is the only reason it's got 2 stars.I don't want to reveal any plot lines, even though it's difficult to see how this terrible movie could be spoiled any more rankly. The only explanation for this monstrous work of cinematic bathos I can conjure up is that, one night, two (or more) hack script-writers got stoned with extreme prejudice and set to work on a bet that they could produce - in one night - the worst and sappiest collection of unlikely plot-lines ever devised by even semi-human minds, yet fill their to the brim with asinine emotional conceits which could tug mightily at the heart-strings of the most gullible of tear-jerk junkies. Part of the bet had to have been that no re-writes were to be done, and it's quite apparent that none were even contemplated. Perhaps the worst thing about the film is that the story inhabits neither reality nor fantasy, but rather a two-dimensional world fabricated entirely of artificial notions of what it would be like to be alive. Verisimilitude was literally ejected forcibly from the movie at scene 1, take 1, never to be allowed back into the studio.

Let's be completely honest and upfront, The Book of Love is not a good movie. It's not even a movie I would recommend to people. However, it's heart is in the right place. I know the film was made for people who are going through tragedies and are looking to move on. That's fine and all, but the execution is far from where it could have been with an idea like this. The Book of Love deals with two people, Henry and Millie, both with tragic pasts and looking for something to keep them going through difficult times. They share a bond together over tragedy, and decide to band together and build a boat to deal with their loss, and possibly go on an adventure of a lifetime. What follows is a serious of mostly convoluted events with several cheesy conflicts and dialogue that more or less lead to a B-movie version of Life of Pi meets The Way Way Back? Both are modern-day classics in my opinion, and The Book of Love has nowhere near the gravitas or emotional effect those films do, but I think that was certainly the tone they were going for. The problem is, the film never earns its emotional beats. Instead, it feels more like a glorified hallmark drama, just with great actors. The only major positive is Justin Timberlake's score, and yes I said Justin Timberlake. Why in the world I decided to watch this film, I'm not entirely sure, probably because of Maisie Williams, but it's not a film I will ever revisit.4.4/10

Maisie Williams is a superb actress in everything she does,including this & Jason Sudekis does an excellent drama role. It's a wonderful movie, put together well,explaining how these 2 different people, 1 teenager& 1 adult came together through his wife & built a raft together so the girl could continue her fathers voyage. Could have done without Jason's 2 handyman, or at least the nickname for one (dumbass) & the fact that one doesn't speak any English, but other than that it kept my interest and that's a good thing 😊 It had a little bit of everything in my opinion..comedy,drama, adventure....it was happy,sad,made me laugh & cry. I recommend it! Not everyone will have the same opinion. Just give it a try.

Just saw this at Heartland Film Festival...it had a few good, funny scenes, but the story is so full of tropes (truth delivered from young child folk voice overs, flashbacks to a "haunting" past, and characters who talk their way through "dramatic exchanges" to realizations) that I thought I might have been watching cheap television. Rather than witnessing an unfolding drama, we were presented with scene after scene of characters stupidly stumbling into a situation where they were neatly arranged in a well- lit space in convenient blocking to "discuss their issues". The movie is excessively scored in prepackaged "Hollywood" music you'd expect from a 1999 blockbuster.On a positive note, Maisie Williams is a star and I believed a lot of her character. The acting was fine...Sudeikis couldn't have done much more with the part, but his earnestness in the role is cringe- worthy because the writing is so weak. Biel is fun as an unpredictable and lovable n'Orleans lady. Sudeikis' sidekicks are a source of some of the few organic laughs. All in all, unless you're a massive Biel/Sudeikis fan, I'd skip it. Really. Without a spoiler, the movie follows the two main characters toward a literal suicide mission, but the score is optimistic and the child's voice-over is telling you otherwise - this movie has a surreal disconnect between the story it's telling in music and voice-over and the story it's showing as the characters embark on their final journey. If Herzog had told the same story, it would be clear the characters were insane rather than "on a heartfelt journey".At the q&a Biel mentioned the script went through 26 rewrites. I would be very very curious to see the original script.