The 2022 romantic, comedy/drama The Storied Life of AJ Fikry is a lot like a Hallmark film, or a Lifetime offering. But better. Let me explain.
The aforementioned channels, or studios (?) both have one thing in common. Repetitive stories.
Hallmark, and Lifetime, give us stories that are cardboard cutouts. Stars that play the same role in every tale and the same type of “goofy” plotlines that never happen in real life.
*Okay. So I’ll put the skids on here and admit that Lucy Hale is in a lot of “quirky” romantic comedies at the moment. Some may even be on the previous channels. And admittedly, the story of The Storied Life of AJ Fikry feels like a Hallmark/Lifetime clone.
However.*
The story
AJ is the owner of a bookstore on Alice Island. He is also a recent widower, at the start of the story, and a new parent. He meets Amelia and the two fall in love. Behind this is the missing copy of Tamerlane; the poems by Poe are priceless and it is AJ’s “savings.”
The Cast
Christina Hendricks is Ismay Evans sister to AJ’s late wife and family friend.
Lucy Hale is Amelia; the main love interest.
Scott Foley is Daniel. Husband of Ismay and celebrity author.
Kunal Nayyar is our erstwhile owner of Tamerlane and the bookstore and father to Maya.
David Arquette is Lambiase; local police chief, detective and man with a crush on Ismay. He is also a devout reader.
A Different Cast Listing
Maya is played by:
Kudos To
Lauren Stamile as Leonora.
Joe Penczak as Leon Friedman.
Lizzy Brooks is Maya’s Mum: Marion Wallace.
Behind the camera
Hans Canosa directs The Storied Life of AJ Fikry with a deft yet, at times, frothy touch. Gabrielle Zevin adapts her novel into a compelling screenplay. Cinematographer Alex Vendler makes a brilliant picture of each frame. There is true art here, in terms of lighting and colour. The editor; Jason Nicholson snaps everything together like a simplistic puzzle of images.
All those in charge of making Alice Island and its occupants and buildings look as real as any local town in America, definitely succeed.
It all works
The Storied Life of AJ Fikry works on many levels. Although the film was made in 2022 it feels as fresh as flower blooming today. Hale and Hayyar make a brilliant if “different worlds” couple brought together by their love of books.
The entire backstory, or periphery if you will, is about people who adore the written word. The Police Chief, Ismay, Maya, Leonora, et al, love books. It is this that makes this Hallmark “clone” work so well.
The verdict
The Storied Life of AJ Fikry earns a full 5 stars from me. Why? Because, for the entire length of this romantic, comedy drama, I cared. Not just for the main characters but all of them. I cried at the ending and felt real loss. This is on Netflix right now. Head over and watch it.
The trailer
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