Set in a small town in 1959 England, it is the story of a woman who decides, against polite but ruthless local opposition, to open a bookshop, a decision which becomes a political minefield.
Ironically, given the subject, the script is stilted, with actors often stuck on pause and not even the silver-tongued Nighy able to coax more than a laugh or two from his lines.
Coixet's comfortable approach to Fitzgerald's material rarely rises above a simmer, favouring polite conversations laced with passive-aggressive intent.
The Catalan director [Isabel Coixet] tells the story, which takes place at the end of the '50s, without bombast, and with a sober, but romantic style. [Full review in Spanish]
Coixet's script is a long way off perfect, but it's the least of her problems; the second least is the film's dirge of a score, but even that's a bummer.
The director appeals to classicism with constant conversations between her characters, subtle dialogues and stagings that affect the tranquility of this time and space of this place... [Full Review in Spanish]
A fine, sensitive leading turn from Emily Mortimer helps shore up these quiet, lightly dust-covered proceedings, but can't quite put "The Bookshop" in the black.
