Love, Rosie

Released: 22 October 2014 (UK)

Directed By: Christian Ditter

Starring: Lily Collins, Sam Claflin

Certificate: 12A

Boy meets girl, girl meets boy. All at a young age, to be more precise, at 5.

They grow up together, gradually developing in intriguing teenagers and the next time we get to see them, Rosie’s 18 birthday has come. Like all teenagers, they celebrate the new milestone and, after more than a few drinks, they end up getting closer than they have up til that point. However, Rosie manages to forget the whole night, because of the amount of ingested alcohol and a tiny accident.

Moving forward, another milestone is presented – the prom, to which initially they were supposed to go together, as friends, but each of them ends up going, with what seems at the moment, the people they have fallen for. The night does not lack incidents and if for Alex losing his virginity was a no brainer, we can’t say the same about Rosie.

9 months later, Katie is born and Rosie’s life changes completely. Alex however is sticking to his initial plan and investing all his efforts in his career, far away, in Boston, without any clue of what is happening to his best friend. He confronts her a few months later when he comes home for a short visit and gets to meet Katie.

Even if they keep in touch, from this point on their lives somehow separate.

Alex is training in Boston, where he manages to meet someone and get into a stable relationship. After some time, and a child that proves not be his, he realises that his picture perfect was not exactly how it might have seemed at a first glance.

Rosie started working and not counting as much on her parents’ support. Her baby daddy shows up one day and, in the end, he manages to charm her again, this time into marrying him. However, she is on a daily basis reminded of her relationship with Alex, as Katie and her new best friend tend to spend a lot of time together.

After Rosie’s dad passing, things seems to start to change, but again, life interferes and they don’t manage to fully connect. And, as Rosie separates from her husband, the final scene with him being quite an amusing one, Alex decides to get married to his high-school sweetheart. Rosie finds out one week before the actual wedding, after discovering a love letter from Alex that her former husband has hid from her. She attends the wedding, heartbroken, and goes back home where she tries to piece up together her life.

She ends up accomplishing her teenage dream of having her own hotel and the last moments of the film show us the palpable version of that dream. By her side are her dear ones: Katie, her good friend Ruby, her mother and her first guest.

Lily Collins as Rosie and Sam Claflin as Alex give an impressive performance and have a very good on screen chemistry. The role of her parents and her new good friend Ruby make us realise how much it matters for a few close to heart people to be there for you when you most need it. Rosie is a full of life woman that doesn’t seem to be crushed by no matter what comes her way. Alex is the perfect portrayal of the protective pillar every woman wants in her life.

The story is a well-known one to each of us. It puts an emphasis on timing, which can either seal or break the deal. Life is a series of moments that can bring us together or separate us. It is a series of unpredictable events which make us grow and change. And, with this movie, we get the chance to see them all: the innocence of childhood, the struggle of the teenage years, the acceptance of what can’t be changed and making the best you can out of what you have, the sorrow of losing a dear one and the power to keep pushing and to fight for what your heart truly desires. It is not the story of a girl that met a boy, but the story of their beautiful imperfect lives.

Rosie and Alex present us with a timeless plot, one that no matter how you will put it, and how many times you will repeat it, will still catch your eye. Why? Because it is full of the hope we all need on a day to day basis.