Lily Collins is swamped by schmaltzy contrivance in this overwrought tale of habitual bad timing, from Cecelia Ahern’s epistolary novel Where Rainbows End. Rosie (Collins) and Alex (Sam Claflin, channelling Hugh Grant) are meant to be together, but seem destined to spend their lives out of sync, attending each other’s weddings, stumbling through funerals, constantly failing to carpe the proverbial romantic diem.
Unplanned pregnancies, ill-judged allegiances – all could have been avoided had he simply asked her to the dance. Instead, he heads to Harvard while she winds up holding the baby (not his), paving the way for umpteen airport dashes, missed connections and predictable Four Weddings/My Best Friend’s Wedding showdowns. It’s not entirely unlikable, but there’s nothing here to match the charm of the movies this imitates, nor justify the mood swings that it signally fails to negotiate.
