Love stories are not necessarily my go-to movies. I’m a nerd so the genre of love stories and rom-coms aren’t really my thing, but every once in a while I come across an interesting movie about love that inspires me. It’s usually a movie that has a unique and interesting concept about finding love. This year, that film is A Big Bold Beautiful Journey starring Colin Farrell and Margot Robbie. It may not be the greatest love story within film, but the concept within the story is brilliant. Two people meet at a wedding who have never been lucky when it comes to love. They’ve never been able to find the right person and it’s not like some old classic romantic movie where two star crossed lovers have the perfect “meet cute,” but a story we’re outside forces send two people on a journey where their path will intersect at the perfect moment when they’re ready to open up and accept the possibility of love. You may call it destiny or the power of God guiding you to the perfect person, but the story concept is what really made me enjoy the film even beyond the wonderful performances of Colin Farrell and Margot Robbie. It’s not a typical love story because there’s so many layers within the characters that we as the audience have to delve into in order to accept the connection between these characters and what they must go through to finally find love. For me, the best kinds of stories are the ones where there’s so much below the surface.
The story in itself is not necessarily a typical romance, but it almost plays out like a therapy session where the characters have to face their past by going through various doors along their journey so that they can be ready for love. These two characters are damaged for various reasons. In order to have a good future we must face our past, that’s the message within the story. There’s also a great metaphor behind the title, A Big Bold Beautiful Journey… the greatest journey is the one we take within ourselves while facing our past. The best part of the film is Colin Farrell and Margot Robbie’s performance. They’re great and should certainly be in the conversation during award season. Phoebe Waller-Bridges and Kevin Klein are also good. While I have not always liked Phoebe’s performances in other movies like Indiana Jones and The Dial of Destiny, she is great in this film. And Kevin Klein always knocks it out of the park. The story almost feels like a play with each act representing a different part of the two main characters journey as they go through various doors to their past. It’s a brilliant and beautiful concept. The film has everything from romance, comedy, and even great musical theater. Colin Farrell’s musical theater scenes are the best scenes of the film in my opinion.
However despite the beauty within the film and the brilliance of the story, it’s not perfect. There are some lulls in the second act that affect the pacing and even though it is necessary for the story you may find yourself a bit bored. It’s a minor knit pack because it’s not really a story problem as much as it is in editing problem. But don’t let this stop you from seeing the movie because overall it’s good. It’s an even better date movie especially with side characters like the GPS. Yes, the GPS has a mind of its own and with good reason. My criticisms of the film are minor but overall I love Colin Farrell and Margot Robbie’s big, bold, and beautiful performance that made me laugh, even cry at times, but more importantly really think about the message of the movie. As critics we see so many movies that are largely forgettable, but this movie is not one of them. It’s the kind of story that makes us re-examine the idea of love and all that we have to go through to be ready for it especially when we meet our perfect match. I highly recommend it especially as a good date movie.
