I was browsing Netflix and looking for a movie. It's so hard to find movies that don't have a lot of violence, sex or foul language. I'm not a prude but sometimes I just want a good, more wholesome movie. It's hard to find adult movies like this but luckily I found "The Storied Life of A.J. Fikry"
The 2022 movie is based off the novel by Gabrielle Zevin. I didn't read the book but I think I would have enjoyed it.
The film begins with A.J. Fikry (wonderfully played by Kunal Nayyar, who you might know as Raj from The Big Bang Theory), a reclusive and grumpy bookstore owner on Alice Island (filmed at Cape Code, Massachusetts). Amelia Loman (played by Lucy Hale who you might know as Katy Keene from Riverdale) is a book sales representative who travels to his bookstore from her home in Rhode Island. His wife had passed away a couple of years ago and he just seems to have no interest in anything. She tries to sell him some books to put in his store, one book in particular she mentions is "The Late Bloomer" about an elderly couple that finds love at an old age. Amelia (aka: Amy) believes it to be a beautiful memoir but she can't find any buyers interested in the book at all and that book eventually becomes a flop.
That evening, A.J. pulls his prized guarded copy of Tamerlane (a rare collection of Edgar Allen Poe poems) out to view it, but he eventually passes out from too much drinking after wallering in self-pity all night.
When he awakens, he see the mess he made the night before has been cleaned up and someone has stolen his copy of Tamerlane, which he merely had for investment purposes and had hoped to sell it one day so he could retire from the bookstore. He reports the stolen book to his friend Officer Lambiase, who takes the info but they don't do much to find the book, knowing it will be pretty difficult to track down.
A.J. also has a writer friend named Daniel (Scott Foley, well known for Felicity), who is married to Ismay (Christina Hendricks from Mad Men & Good Girls). If I recall correctly, Ismay was A.J.'s sister-in-law (his late wife's sister).
One day, a young girl comes in holding a 2-year-old and asks for book and when A.J. goes to get it, he finds she has left and left the little girl behind for him to care for. A.J. falls for the cute little girl and eventually adopts her. Ismay, for some reason, doesn't seem especially happy about this but she supports her friend.
About 4 years later, we see that Amy has still been making regular trips to Alice Island and has gotten to know A.J. and the child (Maya). Maya is very fond of Amy. After one visit, A.J stumbles upon "The Late Bloomer" that Amy recommended when they first met. He reads it in one evening and ends us crying like baby. He then contacts Amy and want to take her to lunch and discuss it.
Eventually a friendship and then romance develops and the movie continues over the next 10 year or so as we see the characters deal with loss and growth.
It was a very sweet movie and perfect to watch on a nice rainy day. I won't tell more so as not to give the story away.
I do have one negative thing to say and it wasn't about the movie per se, but more about the set of the movie. First, it takes place in the northeastern US on Alice Island (Cape Code stood in for the Island). Now I have never been to Cape Cod (although I want to so much), but I hear that although they are not native to Cape Cod, hydrangeas are quite popular and well known and practically associated with the island. Over 155 varieties grow there!
Hydrangea season on the island is June - August (warm months, of course). In the movie however, they were blooming all throughout the entire movie. It was nuts, characters were walking around with coats, heavy sweaters and hats, yet those flowers were in full bloom...all...the...time! Seriously? I don't know why it bothered me but it kind of did. There is one scene where they are closing down the bookstore and poof all the hydrangea bushes are mysteriously gone but in the next scene, when the bookstore is re-opened, poof full bloom again. Small little vent, but still... :)
Anyway, despite the flowers (ha ha), I recommend this movie - very sweet!
