Review: This Beautiful Fantastic

Bella Brown (Jessica Brown Findlay) is "the oddest of oddballs," an abandoned orphan briefly cared for by ducks who grew up terrified by the unpredictability of nature and, in particular, fauna. Obsessed with order, more interested in books than people, someone "who was sent here to test us."

Or at least test next-door neighbour Alfie Stephenson (Tom Wilkinson), a crotchety misanthrope who continually takes her to task for the "unmitigated eco-apocalypse" that used to be her garden. He's annoyed enough to report her to her landlord who is about to evict her for negligence of the property when Alfie's beleaguered personal cook Vernon (Andrew Scott) steps in, negotiating a month's reprieve for the wide-eyed heroine. Vernon also decides that working for the lovely but sheltered Bella is a far better option than staying with the grouchy Alfie, who insists Bella return his cook back to him. Exasperated, Alfie agrees to help Bella restore the garden in exchange for Vernon cooking his meals again.

As Bella learns to welcome less controlled chaos in her life and Alfie allows his heart to be thawed by her company, one other development comes into play in the form of Jeremy Irvine's Billy, a constant presence at the library where she works. With his equally childlike innocence and depthless quirk, the maker of mechanical animals is obviously a perfect match for aspiring children's book writer Bella. Naturally, their romance is not all rainbows and unicorns as writer-director Simon Aboud throws a couple of pebbles and one especial boulder their way.

Obviously constructed as a modern-day fairy tale, This Beautiful Fantastic is chock-full of whimsy and idiosyncrasy. For some, the film might feel as cosy as a good cuppa on a warm winter's day. For others, it may be a treacly, cavity-inducing confection. Comparisons to Amélie are inevitable, especially since Findlay has been styled to resemble Audrey Tautou's equally isolated and inspiring heroine. Yet there's a bit more melancholy coating the predominant cutesiness of Aboud's work. It doesn't make the film any less by-the-numbers or more effective. There's a wispiness to This Beautiful Fantastic that can't quite support the charm overload, though the film remains fairly entertaining due to its fine cast.

This Beautiful Fantastic

Directed by: Simon Aboud

Written by: Simon Aboud

Starring: Jessica Brown Findlay, Jeremy Irvine, Tom Wilkinson, Andrew Scott, Anna Chancellor, Sheila Hancock, Eileen Davies