Love, Rosie (2014)
Certified: 15
Duration: 102 minutes
Directed by: Christian Ditter
Starring: Lily Collins, Sam Claflin, Tamsin Egerton, Suki Waterhouse, Jaime Winstone, Art Parkinson, Christian Cooke, Nick Lee, Lily Laight
KRS Releasing Ltd

Can a man and a woman be best friends forever without the love bug kicking in? This has been an ages-old question that movies have at times tackled very successfully like in When Harry Met Sally (1989).

Now along comes Love, Rosie, a sweet and well-acted movie that is based on the novel Where Rainbows End by Cecila Ahern. The film benefits from its central duo, consisting of Lily Collins and Sam Claflin who both have an interesting, charming and likeable screen presence. One can feel that, without them, the film would lose a great deal.

The two play Alex and Rosie, long-time friends who here have become best friends, brother and sister and even more so. At one point the two shared a kiss but, due to the drink involved on the occasion, the incident has been forgotten. They are eager to go to America together but life does not always end up the way people expect it to be.

Rosie ends up pregnant with the father being a schoolmate named Greg (Christian Cooke), and so she cannot move to the US. Alex is not aware of what Rosie is going through and, while in the US, he meets Sally (Tamsin Egerton).

Collins, especially, is quite a cinematic figure

Over the span of little more than a decade, we see how Rosie’s and Alex’s relationship builds, expands and changes.

Christian Ditter may count himself lucky to have these actors sharing screen time together as they look very easygoing and natural. Collins, especially, is quite a cinematic figure, and it’s very easy to see why she has Claflin all in a huff. They end up leaving the rest of the cast in the shade, with only Egerton distinguishing herself as she is quite radiant.

The film has its fair share of fun by placing the protagonists on life paths that move in parallel but never seem to cross, with both doing their best to ignore that their one true love has been under their noses for a very long time.

Love, Rosie manages to skip and avoid many of those moments that could have been overly sweet and instead delivers an amiable and light piece of romantic comedy entertainment.