A light and airy romance film in the first half, The Storied Life Of A.J. Fikry is a slow burner that finds emotional depth and nuance by the end.
Films based on books can be a risk. If you have a great many people who love a book, they love the book. It is a piece of them, so anything you put on screen will almost never live up to their hopes and dreams. And at the same time, if the filmmakers love the story, they want to make sure that the world gets a chance to know it if they aren’t going to read the book. So, they do their best.
The Storied Life Of A.J. Fikry is about A.J., a bookstore owner with a drinking problem whose wife has recently died. When 2 year-old Maya is abandoned and randomly left to him (through a note), this cranky man decides to foster her and raise her as his own. At the same time, book publisher, Amelia and A.J. begin to connect through specific books and develop a relationship.
This movie (based on the book by Gabrielle Zevin) is uneven, but enjoyable. The first half plays out like a stereotypical Hallmark movie (although, this is not a Hallmark movie) and is filmed the same way. Boy meets girl in a random fashion and they begin a relationship, but there are obstacles. They decide to deal with the obstacles and be together, but there are other issues in the way as well. It is all perfectly comfortable and perfectly fine for the viewer.
In the second half, there is more depth. You learn more about Maya’s parentage and the relationship between A.J., Maya, Amelia, and several friends in the town. There are also a few moments that are very concentrated on the relationship between father and daughter, which unexpectedly brought me to tears. I cried twice in the second half and got choked up once. I was just as surprised as anyone, but glad that it touched me. It has more depth than you’d expect.
One of the lines from the film (that I assume is also in the book) stuck out to me and I’d like to frame it. “Some of us live one comet lives, and this, I suppose, must be enough.” To me, it means that you don’t always get to live a big and extraordinary life full of lots of moments of wonder. But each life does have wonder, you just have to appreciate what you have while you have it.
The Storied Life Of A.J. Fikry is a sweet film that is more than a stereotypical boy-meets-girl story. There are some odd tiny effects (like animation of pink petals floating off of a pink tree), but most of it is small and about the relationships you see on screen. And like one character says, “A place ain’t a place without a bookstore.” Ain’t that the truth.
Runtime: 105 minutes
Motion Picture Rating: PG-13
Languages Spoken In The Film: English
Should You Watch It? Yes, it’s sweet
Did I Cry? Yes, twice
My Rating: 3.25/5 Stars
Available: Free on Netflix, to rent on Prime Video, or may be available for free on other streaming platforms
Films based on books can be a risk. If you have a great many people who love a book, they love the book. It is a piece of them, so anything you put on screen will almost never live up to their hopes and dreams. And at the same time, if the filmmakers love the story, they want to make sure that the world gets a chance to know it if they aren’t going to read the book. So, they do their best.
