Director: Iain Morris
Writers: Allison Burnett, Melissa Osborne, based on the novel by Julia Wheelan
Stars: Sofia Carson, Corey Mylchreest, Dougray Scott
Synopsis: An ambitious American student travels to Oxford in England to fulfill her dream, but encounters a charming local who changes both their lives.
I’ve wanted to watch My Oxford Year long before I set my eyes on the trailer. And no, it’s not because I read the book it is based on, which I haven’t by the way. My interest was piqued when I saw a teaser poster of the two leads: Sofia Carson and Corey Mylchreest. I was immediately intrigued and honestly just wanted to see what the chemistry between the two of them would be like. When the trailer dropped, you better believe I was one of the first to watch it. I loved it so much that I immediately forwarded the link to a very close friend of mine. Spoiler: she did not share in my enthusiasm.
But that wasn’t an issue for me, because I can’t remember the last time I was actually counting down to the day a movie is set to premiere. Yeah, the sequel to the Chinese hit Ne Zha was a high for me, but if something came close to it, it was My Oxford Year. It didn’t help that when “made by the producers of The Fault in Our Stars” showed up on my screen, something from the comments section caught my eye. It read, “When the producers from The Fault in Our Stars popped up I got scared… I don’t think I have that many tears in me again.” Dang!
Is it a cozy rom-com; is it going to weigh on my heart like another The Notebook?”I really could not tell. So let’s just say that I was equal parts excited and wary going into the movie.
Okay, when August 1 came around and the movie premiered on Netflix, I was ready to watch and be touched and moved by these new characters and this new world. I will not lie, the idea of Oxford added another beautiful layer to the new world I’m venturing into.
However, in the first twenty minutes of the movie I was still grappling with the idea of what Netflix means to accomplish with it. On the one hand, they seem to want to push the envelope with the characters – Harry Trevaldwyn’s Charlie for one thing – and for another, they were playing it a bit too safe with the plot. To top it off, none of their moments designed to make me haha was able to get a smile out of me – and I’m usually the type to howl my head off at every little joke in a movie.
So let’s just say that early on, I had already acquainted my mind to the idea that it’s not one of those rom-coms that makes you LOL. Don’t get me wrong, my interest in the movie has by no means flatlined, even though our protagonists’ first little encounter is somewhat cliché. Anyway, Anna De La Vega (Carson) and Jamie Davenport (Mylchreest) accidentally headbutting in the latter’s office was weirdly satisfying. I love it when movies have relatable little accidents in them.
Moving on, I found it quite hard connecting with the characters – everything seemed to be moving so fast that I kind of got lost in the mess of the flowing plotlines. I could have told them to cut the unnecessary plots to make more room for character building, but would they have listened? Well, to be honest, not many people listen to me, so it wouldn’t have been their fault. Still, I so badly wanted to feel the pain that Jamie’s father must be feeling. I did understand the concept of his pain, I just couldn’t feel it.
Even when the movie’s great tragedy happened, I was like, “Oh well.” However, if something in the movie touched me, it was the moment Anna walked into the classroom as Oxford’s newest lecturer offers her new students cake and quotes the same thing Jamie does on his first day teaching. I just have one lil suggestion to make: Bella Thorne’s Midnight Sun handled rom-com tragedy brilliantly. My Oxford Year could learn scores from it.
One other thing: I understand that they tried to weave poetry into the plot, but they barely did it in any way that was powerful or moving. The exploration of British culture, or at least the clash of it with American ones, was also not done in a satisfying way. It seemed like the writers were on a mission to fixate on every little popular stereotype about jolly old England, instead of giving us an intimate understanding of these new people and their culture.
If My Oxford Year was going for my emotions, it didn’t get it. And it’s sad to say knowing quite well that it was going for my emotions. That, in itself, might just be the saddest thing about the movie.
