Are Romcoms Back?

Hello everyone and welcome back to the blog! Today, we are continuing the series of tv show/movie reviews. Lately, there has been a flood of book-to-movie adaptations. Which for the most part I would view as a good thing, but there’s some part of me that also hates it because there’s so much pressure to do the book justice. Especially with a book as beloved as People we Meet on Vacation or any Emily Henry novel really.

When I heard, People We Meet on Vacation by Emily Henry was becoming a movie, I have to admit I was stoked. I love Emily Henry’s books, and this was the very first one I read. Of course, that means will the movie be as good as the book? I trust Emily Henry to do her readers justice.

The first part of setting the movie up for success is that the director and crew need to know the weight of the project they are taking on. The author needs to be involved in the process. Both of which happened here. The readers fell in love with the story the way it was originally written and I think that's important to remember.

The second part is that the readers need to understand that not everything from the book is going to be included in the movie. It’s impossible to fit 400 pages in 2 hours. I don’t necessarily there was a giant upset about what was included vs. not. Expectations have to be limited.

The third part is casting. This is the first test the adaptation has to take on because who the readers envision as their beloved characters is so important. Especially if the director is going to cast actors that do not follow the same physical description as mentioned in the book. It has to be justified by the name and talent of the actor we’re bending the rules for.

I do have to say that casting Emily Bader and Tom Blyth was what confirmed for me the success of this movie. Tom Blyth who just graced our screens in the newest Hunger Games movie and killed his role as young president Snow. Emily Bader is the definition of natural talent and beauty and honestly just embodies Poppy. I love the casting.

For the most part, the movie was well-received and very successful, and I do have to say, it brought back that romcom spark.

It’s been years since I’ve read the book and did not want to re-read it before watching the movie. I went in blind, and honestly, I think that was the right call (for me). This was definitely a comeback for romcoms. It was cheesy, swoon worthy, and made me want to sit on the couch and giggle. Everything you could ask for in a romcom.

Were there a lot of things that changed from book to movie? Yes. Were there favorite lines that weren’t included in the movie? Yes. Was it faster paced than the book? Yes. Could there have been more of Alex’s backstory? Yes. Was the switch from the Palm Springs wedding to a Barcelona wedding weird and unnecessary? Yes. But ultimately as an adaptation from a beloved book, I thought it was well done.

As I said, there has to be expectations that not everything will be included, this includes specific dialogue used in the book. Things are changed to better adapt to the on-screen format. But those things that mattered were still there. The actors still became the characters we love.

Alex and Poppy’s personalities felt lively and accurate through the screen. Poppy as this carefree, free-spirited person and Alex as this uptight, rule follower. You can see that Vacation Alex came out around Poppy. She brought out his fun side. People argue that the skinny-dipping scene isn’t something Alex would do. BUT Poppy encouraged him to do it; she encouraged him to go out and have fun. If she wasn’t there, he definitely wouldn’t have done it.

We could feel the yearning as the summers progressed; we could see their friendship start to change into something more. We could see how Alex started falling for her, we could see Poppy starting to fall for Alex. We got the rain scene and the New Orleans scene. I think those two were my favorite parts of the movie.

There was some discussion online debating about whether this would’ve been better as a limited series. The story is told over several summers, each following a different adventure that Alex and Poppy have, and people think that each episode could’ve represented a summer which would build up to the Palm Springs wedding.

I think it would’ve worked as a limited series. They could’ve included more from the book, and each episode could’ve been 45-ish minutes. There’s just something about a romcom though, and I think limited series are a bit overrated.

Ultimately, I think watching PWMOV as a viewer with little to no stakes just wanting a true romcom, this delivers. I would even give it a 7/10. Not going to lie, I already want to re-watch it. As a true fan and someone who is watching because they loved the book, I would give the book-to-movie adaptation a 6/10.

Overall, I still think it’s definitely worth the watch and did do the book justice. Plus who doesn’t want to see Tom Blyth as a yearning man who also CLENCHES HIS JAW? The romance girlies get it.

Alright folks, that is all I have for this week! Come back next Wednesday for another blog post! As always thank you for reading:)