FINDING YOU: 2 ½ STARS. “an Irish twist on ‘Notting Hill’ WITH NICE SCENERY.”
Like an Irish twist “Notting Hill,” the new rom com “Finding You,” now on VOD, sees a regular Josephine with dreams of being a star, fall for a movie star who wants nothing more than to be a regular guy.
After a failed audition for a tony New York City Conservatory, Finley Sinclair (Rose Reid) decides to decamp to Ireland to live, work and study Irish music at her relative’s B&B. Because this is a rom com, on the plane she sits next to movie star Beckett Rush (Jedidiah Goodacre). He’s on the way to shoot the latest instalment of his “Game of Thrones” style fantasy franchise. Thinking they’ll never see one another again, they harmlessly flirt. She falls asleep on his shoulder and he charms her as he gently wakes her up.
Let me remind you, this is a rom com, so they on the ground in the tiny Irish town of Carlingford, it turns out they’re staying at the same hotel! Who would have imagined?
Sparks fly, but there are complications. (Again, this is a rom com.) There’s a fake Hollywood romance with starlet Taylor Risdale (Katherine McNamara), a meddling manager and Beckett’s eager fans.
But love changes everything, and soon Beckett and Finley come together in a journey of self-discovery that will change both their lives.
“Finding You,” based on the 2011 young adult novel There You’ll Find Me by Jenny B. Jones, has all the elements of the dreaded inspirational rom com. There’s beautiful scenery that’s almost as good looking as the actors. There are also romantic complications, flirtatious behavior, boozy regulars at the pub, a dead relative or two and enough Irish clichés to make a leprechaun blush.
Everybody knows rom coms aren’t about the destination—we all know who will settle down with who by the time the end credits roll—they are about the journey. “Finding You” is all journey, like driving down a road you’ve gone down dozens of times before but they’ve put up a new billboard or two. You’ve seen it all before, but the scenery is nice.