The accolades for the 2015 drama "The Girl in the Book," which Monarch Home Entertainment is releasing on DVD on February 23 2016, include a 91-percent critics' rating on Rotten Tomatoes. This A- reflects the good performances by Emily Van Camp of the ABC series "Revenge" and Michael Nyquist of the Swedish version of "The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo" as rookie book editor/aspiring writer Alice and creepy best-selling novelist Milan respectively.
The following YouTube clip of the SPOILER-LADEN "Book" trailer does a good job providing a taste of the film (and the reasons for the critical acclaim).
The stereotypical opening scenes are a montage of nearly 29 year-old Alice waking in the arms of her boyfriend, getting ready for her job with a New York publisher, and starting her workday. The event that sets the action in motion (and provides the setting for the multiple flashbacks) is Alice becoming involved in preparing a new edition of the great American novel of Milan for publication.
The aforementioned flashbacks depict the history between our leads. Alice meets Milan through the father of Alice being the book agent for Milan back in the day. This coincides with Alice being an aspiring young writing who looks to Milan for professional guidance.
Milan and Alice entering an inappropriate relationship in their past is only the tip of the iceberg regarding the drama that is causing Alice angst in the present. Milan also takes professional advantage of Alice in the period following their initial meeting.
Other present-day drama relates to Alice making a mess out of her personal life. An ill-advised dangerous liaison due to a quarter-life crisis jeopardizes two valued relationships, and an innocent effort to help a fellow young writer leads to further internal and external turmoil.
Said destructive acts and thoughts compel Alice to frantically attempt to get her personal and professional lives back on track. This results in a final scene that nicely ties everything together.
All of this works well because each element of the film falls at least somewhere within the realm of probability.
Anyone with questions or comments regarding "Book" is encouraged to either email me or connect on Twitter via @tvdvdguy.
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