The film deals with a young woman who dreams of being a children's author. Perhaps it takes more effort, as this young girl makes an unlikely friendship with a rich old widow for what she wants.
A charming, beautifully photographed modern fairy tale about love and gardening, This Beautiful Fantastic is worth seeing in spite of its dumb deterrent of a title.
Simon Aboud's whimsical yet slight This Beautiful Fantastic is the latest in the English Garden subgenre, in the vein of The Lady in the Van or A Man Called Ove (which is Swedish but still qualifies).
Like its title, with those synonymous adjectives, Simon Aboud's film strings together a story that strains to be charming while actually being immediately predictable.
Aboud ... works some obvious parallels as he tells the story of a timid young woman, her cranky old neighbor and the garden that separates them, but enjoyable performances keep the tale from becoming too heavy-handed.
Finlay reminds one of a young Winona Ryder as she winsomely juggles learning to garden with letting her guard down, while the always watchable Andrew Scott once again proves to be a scene-stealer with his kindly cook.
Depending on how you take your twee - sparingly or, as is the case in this preciously concocted tale of English misfits, slathered like marmalade over a crumpet - it will either delight or quickly cloy.
