This movie is based on the Penelope Fitzgerald novel of the same name. I am sure that the story of a young war widow setting out to establish a bookshop in a small English village is very well written and allows you to identify with the many quirky characters, both good and bad. Unfortunately, this movie provided me with no interest in any of them. I will warn you now of story spoilers but I believe the screenplay writers already did a good job of spoiling this story. The movie revolves around war widow, Florence Green played by Emily Mortimer, who moves to a small town and sets up a bookshop in a building known as the Old House. Violet Gamet, Patricia Clarkson, is an older gentry woman who for some reason does not want the bookshop to open and it is inferred that she will do anything to prevent the enterprise from succeeding. Along the way, we meet various members of the community from an unsympathetic bank manager, local cad, some young children and a reclusive Edmund Brundish, Bill Nighy, who appears to be Florence's only adult supporter. The story proceeds very slowly, interrupted by awkward conversations, followed by awkward silence, followed by shots of rustling trees and running water. The movie fails to portray the motivations of most of the characters and so their behaviour is not easy to follow. Which, for me, raised the following questions; What is Florence's attachment to the Old House and how did she come to find it as it does not appear that she has lived in the town before. Why does Violet want the Old House and what is her attachment to it? What hold does Violet have over the rest of the villagers to make them support her? What has Mr Brundish done for his whole life? Is the hand holding scene supposed to be romantic or just creepy? Did Florence actually sell any copies of Lolita? If any fellow Escapees can answer these questions please let me know. This film may appeal to those who enjoy movies such as Remains of the Day, A room with a view or Howards End or anyone else looking for 90 minutes of snooze time. Family Rating - No language, sex, or any signs of life Rating - 3 out of 10

How does the Star Wars production team keep pushing out amazing new movies without taking anything away from the original storyline? I believe it comes down to having new directors for each episode, each bringing their own ideas and perspective to the overall storylines. The second is to take a risk on new and unknown talent while surrounding them with acting experience. Solo: A Star Wars Story does just that. Allowing experienced director, Ron Howard, use his skill to tell an origin story on a character that we all know and love allowed the story to stay fresh even though we think we know it all. Selecting Alden Ehrenreich as Solo and Donald Glover as Lando was the turning point of this movie's success as it did not take long to accept that the characters they played were the immature and inexperienced versions of the future Solo and Lando. Alden's Solo showed off his streetwise self-confidence, mixed with his desire to be included with the 'grown ups'. His interaction in meeting Chewbacca and Lando for the first time showed how their friendships were established and could continue throughout the Star Wars timeline. The feature of a successful Star Wars anthology story appears to be the inclusion of a feisty android. Rogue 1 had K-2SO and Solo has the feisty L3-37. This character was central to a lot of the funnier moments in the film and has a great chemistry with Lando. Other memorable roles are played by Woody Harrelson as Solo's on again, off again ally, Paul Bethany as the over the top bad guy, Dryden Vos and of course Amelia Clarke as Qi'ra who is Solo's romantic crush but possibly his downfall. I have been surprised by the negative comments posted by other reviewers and it reinforces why I chose to become a reviewer. The quality of a movie is the joy it brings to those who watch it and in this case my love of everything Star Wars was only enhanced by watching Solo. I look forward to the subsequent Solo movies and see how the characters develop leading up to their portrayal in A New Hope and beyond. A family movie for anyone who loves adventure, good guys vs bad guys and a storyline that rocks. 8.5 out of 1