Book of Love

It's hard to write about Alan Brown's movies. I've seen them all. Each is different, but somehow the same. This is his first full length feature. Apparently he starts with a basic concept and makes the movies on the fly. With very, very little money. They all have political comment embedded. In this one he takes a couple that have been married just long enough for the initial romance to start to wear off. They still love each other, but are beginning to be a little bored and cast about for diversion. The critical moment is when they stop in at an ice cream bar and meet Chet, the most beautiful, winsome soda jerk in the world. Elaine and David both like him, but Elaine is smitten, and Chet can tell. Elaine and David invite Chet over for dinner, and things quickly spiral out of control.Without giving away the whole plot, I'll just say that some where near the end Brown loses focus. He is very good at showing complex interpersonal relationships, but here the plot just runs out of steam, and the ending is not only confusing, but completely unsatisfactory. Maybe the money ran out. Maybe he lost motivation. The political content has absolutely nothing to do with the plot. It is a condemnation of the US continued use of land mines and the horrific consequences. It is sort of just tacked on. He does much better with his next films.

I liked this film. Like most indie film it's something different, and, maybe, a little weird, but that does not always mean bad!On my point of view this story is about two apparently similar persons (the husband and wife) whose view on life is quite different. Both are a little scared of ageing, however David accepts the fact and he's ready to take responsibility. He's an accomplished teacher, who researches for his courses and cares for his students- incidentally, all girls in a private school. At home he has his routines (very well constructed, on my point of view) and is very close to his wife, however he's ready for a change: he wants to have a baby. I think he's meant to be slightly older than his wife, who is 27, and just is not ready to accept responsibilities that come along with adulthood: she wants not to have children for the next 10 years and does everything she can to loose her cute appearance. When she finds out that teen Chet is attracted by her, her 'for ever young feelings' get confirmed and she accepts the boy's attentions, unaware of the pain she's going to cause to both Chet and David. And she tells her husband.After an initial meltdown David seems to be able to put himself together, to the point that the three of them take a holiday to Disney World, where, however, David finally confronts Chet with the result that life is changed for everyone and for ever.The three actors portray their roles superbly.Contrary to another reviewer, I liked the musical score too.

This is a rather heart breaking love story about a married woman, age 28, having sex with a 15-year-old dorky kid. It devastates her husband, who is a great guy by any standard. The marriage falls apart and the three go their separate ways. Simon Baker is the husband and no one does heartbreak angst like he does. Just about tears your heart out. He is the only one I had sympathy for. The kid was just a dumb 15-year-old, so you can't expect much judgment from him. The wife was, in my opinion, despicable. All she could worry about was whether her husband still loved her. Not a hint of being sorry for the hurt she caused him. In the end she was the only one who seemed quite happy with how it turned out. Frankly, her husband was well rid of her, although he didn't realize it at the time.

I found this movie a little hard to watch but it does spark conversation. Worth watching but don't expect to feel good afterward. All actor performances are wonderful and very present.I loved watching the interaction between husband and wife in the beginning of the film - a couple with obvious passion and fun. It was difficult to watch it deteriorate which it did too quickly. It was sad to see people who were so comfortable with each other have nothing to say - I found that a bit too unrealistic for me but, in afterthought, probably pretty realistic for many couples. The three people don't seem to talk to each other - each in their own painful world, hurt and hurting.I don't believe in giving blow by blow plot turns and details about a movie I hope you will watch. Decent movie but disturbing, at least for me. Oh, on a funny note, the director asked Simon to somehow try to look more plain - tall order. Even with 15 extra pounds put on specifically for this role, the man looks good!

I am an avid Simon Baker fan however, this was not the best I have seen. His acting as always was great just didn't care for the story at all. Sorry can't recommend.

The premise of this movie is so stupid, you want to beat your head up against a wall. A successful Professor and his attractive Successful wife stop in for an ice cream cone. The boy behind the counter is smitten by one or both of them and they are chatting up all the places they had been. He never having been anywhere dreamed of going to Disney World. They invite the 15 years old to their house for dinner. The boy looks 18. They proceed to get drunkall three and the husband ends up asleep in a hammock. Well you can guess the boy has the hots for the wife and after awhile she has sex with him. Then she confesses, I lost it right there, what woman in their right mind has sex and tells her husband. Well at first the husband is furious,then he starts the vigerour exercise routine trying to get back his lost youth. Then he forgives the boy and and we are all off to Disney World. Then with the wife out of the room, the husband and the boy begin to wrestle. This really gets confusing, it appears the husband is trying to check out the boys package for when the wife appears she's just furious as the boy is adjusting his crotch. It's all down hill from there and you are ready to get off that hill for this movie is totally without merit or direction.

don't remember ordering the in a, probably a mistake

Location: New JerseyMain players: David - High School Teacher at girls school; wife Elaine - events planner?!; Chet - 15 year old schoolboyElaine and David get friendly with local boy who sells ice cream. Wife, a very old looking 28, gets into pants of schoolboy. The wife does some extra time flirting with schoolboy and how the husband fails to notice is beyond me. Perhaps he's looking for a menage et tois. She confesses all to husband, David, who proceeds to doggy style in the toilet with said wife. Wife, husband and boyfriend (who really can't decide whose boyfriend he wants to be), then go to Disneyworld where boyfriend proceeds to stab husband in leg. Cue to end where husband lives in seedy bedsit, wife (we have to presume they have split) teaches yoga with some very dodgy hair extensions and Chet, the schoolboy, has went off to Vietnam where he meets a girl from the girls school in New Jersey who fancied David. Get it? Oh, this all happens in a backdrop of lesbians asking David to father their baby, he teaches Vietnamese history so lots of shots of someone in Vietnam on a loom. We also have shots of windchimes and fish.Film quality looks like dodgy VHS put on DVD. The main players look bewildered. A film trying to be so arty yet could be an episode of One Tree Hill. I wanted to like it, I really did but, oh dear. The three main players all are decent actors in their own right but can't really do an awful lot with a script like this.Oh, and it has a very dodgy blackboard eraser. Watch and see.

I picked this one up as I am a fan of Simon Baker and was interested in the story. It's about a very close couple who are happy in their lives and taking their time to start a family. When they met a near sixteen year old, they don't realise that this man would destory their marriage and themselves. This a very strange but honest story, why on earth would Elaine fall for someone who isn't really that attractive and risk everything for one day of passion? Meh! The pefomances are good, Frances O Connor played Elaine brilliantly and Simon Baker wasn't his true attractive self but was stunning as David, the man in the middle. It ended pretty badly, no-one ended up happily and became depressing very quickly. It's alright, nothing special but not to watch all the time and enjoy it.

Quite good

Ein Film mit anderem Verlauf und Ende als gedacht. Junger Lehrer unterrichtet an einer privaten Mädchenschule,eine Schülerin schwärmt besonders für ihn. Da ist doch das weitere Geschehen so sicher wie das Amen in der Kirche schon vorprogrammiert oder? Weit gefehlt. Die Story nimmt einen völlig anderen Verlauf... Dieser Film ist gut gemacht.Der Regisseur war sehr stolz,dass Simon Baker die Rolle des David übernommen hat.Es ist ein Film,der zum Nachdenken anregt und etwas für echte Baker - Fans.

I bought a few Simon Baker movies after getting in to watching the Mentalist and I found this particular movie very upsetting. In fact, I tossed and turned last night after watching it yesterday morning. Seeing one spouse succumb to temptation and seeing and feeling the emotional devastation felt by both spouses was very tough to take. SPOILER***there were a few specific scenes where I felt the heartbreak David was feeling. (I don't know if Simon Baker brought that pain to life by getting into the character or by tapping into a very painful personal experience. I hope the former.) Not everything is tied up with a nice pretty bow at the end, and that's life. But this film is going to haunt me.