Sneha Jaiswal (Twitter | Instagram)
What is it with writers never tiring of serving the same ‘bad boy’ cliché, where the romantic male lead is introduced as a wealthy jerk who hides behind tables to escape confrontation from his latest ‘exploit,’ but then redeems himself as, ‘Oh no, I’m not so immature, I just have profound daddy issues and a health condition that only makes me seem like a prick. But if I find the right girl, I’ll die for her.’ Zzzzzzzzzz. ‘My Oxford Year’ has the exact same kind of lead, just that since it’s Oxford, he knows literature, poetry, and wants us to believe his character isn’t boring us to tears.
Directed by Iain Morris, the film stars Sofia Carson as the primary protagonist, Anna De La Vega, an ambitious American girl with a lucrative job offer from Goldman Sachs in hand, which she defers for a year to pursue a dreamy academic life filled with poetry at Oxford. There, she meets the handsome Jamie Davenport (Corey Mylchreest) and begins an intense love affair that’s supposed to be only “casual” at first. But then things get heavy, predictable, and snooze-worthy.
It’s not even like I have very high standards when it comes to romance, I rated Sofia Carson’s ‘The Life List’ a 7 out of 10, even though it was a sappy, predictable film too. But at least Sofia had great on-screen chemistry with Kyle Allen, who played her romantic interest. In ‘My Oxford Year’, the sparks between Anna and Jamie are more like damp firecrackers that won’t light.
Even the few friends Anna makes at Oxford aren’t interesting. Many of the character interactions have a pretentious, high-school-drama feel, especially in the first-half. The only reason I was able to power through the nearly 2 hour runtime was the picturesque cinematography. The Oxford campus is a sight to behold, and well, visually, the leads look good too, even though their chemistry is lack-luster. So, yeah, this is a beautifully bland romance.
I remember calling Netflix’s ‘One Day’ exhausting, and that show explores similar romantic themes, but compared to ‘My Oxford Year’, ‘One Day‘ feels like a masterpiece. Unless you’re someone who rarely watches romance films, this one will likely feel painfully recycled, with nothing fresh to offer.
Rating: 3 on 10. ‘My Oxford Year’ in on Netflix.
Read Next: The Village of Eight Graves Review: Wickedly Rich (Audio Version Below)