REVIEW: Finding You Will Leave You Wanting to Find Yourself in Ireland
Based on the book, “There You’ll Find Me” by Jenny B. Jones, Finding You follows Finley Sinclair (Rose Reid), a violinist who is attempting to get into a prestige New York music conservatory. After her audition goes terribly wrong, she finds out that she will get one more opportunity to live out her dream. However, before she can attempt the final audition, Finley decides to spend a semester abroad in Ireland. Hoping to find herself in a small Irish town, like her older brother did, and focus on her music, Finley moves in to her host family’s B&B. Here, she continues to come across heartthrob movie star Beckett Rush (Jedidiah Goodacre), who is in town filming his new movie. Insistent on staying away from the heartthrob, Finley throws herself into her new life, but finds staying away from Rush harder than she thought.
Fans of the book may be a little disappointed in this adaptation. Writer and director, Brian Baugh, opted to leave out a number of storylines to focus on the romance between Finley and Rush. Many fan favorite moments can still be found throughout the film, but Baugh decisions to remove key pieces to Finley’s life to instead focus on the blossoming romance between the pair, will lead viewers a tad bit confused towards the end of the film.
Though, the one thing this film does very well is make you want to take a trip to Ireland. Ireland essentially was it’s own character in this film and it helped elevate every scene. The Irish music played throughout the film also added to the beauty of it. Every scene was taken up a notch due to the beautiful music.
Reid and Goodacre are delightful alongside one another. The two have really good chemistry and bring out the best in one another. Katherine McNamara’s Taylor Risdale is supposed to be the character that causes conflict for our two lovebirds, but unfortunately her storyline falls flat. The film could have left her character out of the entire story and nothing would of really changed. Which is a shame because McNamara is such a fun actress.
Saoirse-Monica Jackson’s Emma Callaghan, Finley’s host sister, however, was my favorite part of the film. Saoirse is one of my favorite comedic actresses and deserves to be known around the world. Her performance in this film is outstanding and I cannot wait to see her in more projects.
Finding You is a typical young adult romance wrapped in delightful views and sounds of Ireland. The film hits all of the major romance categories and that is OK. Even though the film was predictable, it was an enjoyable film that will leave fans wanting to book a trip to Ireland ASAP.
Grade: B