The Storied Life of AJ Fikry 2022
Director: Hans Canosa
(based on Gabrielle Zevin's novel)
Occasionally we are advised not to live in Lalaland but to descend to reality, not to yearn for that Prince Charming or Snow White to sweep us off our feet. The fact is that the biological clock is ticking away, and opportunities are flying by. They tell us 'carpe diem', seize the moment, not wait for the perfect ending and not expect to live a happy life forever and ever. Life is so full of twists and turns, more convoluted than spaghetti if one reflects on it in his twilight stage of life.
This film will excite an eternal bibliophile. A gadget-savvy person would not understand the excitement about the physical book, as ebooks and Kindles do the same. But then, we all know how books flock together, like silverfish flock to old books. Like silverfish, too, books will survive the assault of modern technology pretty much like how silverfishes, one of the most ancient insects, have been around for maybe 400 million years.
I made it to this movie to see a speaking Kunal Nayyar, who had spent a few seasons of 'Big Bang Theory' tongue-tied in front of his female co-stars. And I wanted to see how he, a 'brown' man, would have performed in a rom-com. He did pretty well, except there were too many things to chew in the two-hour presentation that so many things flew by that acting is compromised for storytelling.
An alcoholic bookshop owner and a widower go on with life in his dingy bookshop on an island, brooding over his wife's demise and generally pessimistic about life. All these changes when a young child is left in his shop. Her mother is found dead. And a book salesperson stops by to promote her books. Love blossoms, and the bookshop owner, AJ Fikry, finds purpose in life until the uncertainties of life throw another spanner in the works.
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