Page 22 - The Jewish Voice - April '25

Page 22, The Jewish Voice

Arts & Entertainment from page 20 explores these others as well: how his life changes when
a 2-year-old girl, Maya, is abandoned in his bookstore
Film Review: and the mother is found dead; his sister-in-law, Ismay’s,
The Storied Life of A. J. Fikry husband dies in a car crash; the pregnant wife of an author
learns that her husband has been cheating on her; Fikry’s
relationship with the young book sales rep he treated
By Nils A. Shapiro poorly takes a dramatic turn toward feelings he had not
There are two expected…and much more that if described more fully
reasons for my having here would act as “spoilers.”
selected this film to For me, the seven years covered in the film—and
review in this month’s the emotional ending—brought forth enough involving
column, neither of moments to make this very much a worthwhile experience.
which is my certainty I believe many of you will feel the same and I shall
that you will fully consider this review an homage to a Boca Raton Spanish
enjoy it. River Community High School graduate who has made
The first is that us all proud.
the writer of the
screenplay, Gabrielle Essays on Life:
Zevin, was born
and raised in Boca The Changing of the Seasons
Raton and graduated
from Spanish River By Sonia E. Ravech
Community High Winters in my home
School in 1996. She State of Massachusetts are
graduated from Harvard University in 2000, having stark. The air is damp and
concentrated on American Literature, then adapted the cold. Limbs of the barren
screenplay from her own 2014 national bestseller of the trees resemble spiders’ legs
same title and has become an award-winning author of reaching towards the overcast
several bestselling books. sky. The ground is frozen and
The second reason I enjoyed The Storied Life of A. J. cracked. Lawns have turned
Fikry is its subject matter—the story of a bookseller and to straw. The environment is
his world—and anyone who is a regular reader of my almost colorless, grey, white
monthly Book Review column knows that says it all! and drab.
My one hesitation is that the film received mixed Everyone looks forward to the first signs of Spring when
reviews when released in 2022, so I will inform you of the tree limbs start to bud, crocuses push up through the earth,
that up front and leave to you the decision of whether or lawns emit a hint of green and the golden sun breaks through
not to view this film now streaming on Netflix. exposing a blue sky. The change of seasons is easily evident.
The Storied Life of A.J. Fikry was directed by Hans But how does one distinguish the change in an environment
Canosa, who has since become married to the author/ such as Florida where the grass and trees are always green,
screenwriter. colorful flowers continually dot the landscape, and the sun
Kunal Nayyar stars in the role of A.J. Fikry, owner of and bright blue sky are taken for granted? I suggest we look
a bookstore in the lovely, scenic town of Alice Island on to our feathered friends, the birds.
Cape Cod, Massachusetts. Bearded and kind of scruffy The advent of Spring ushers in the mating season. The
looking, when we first meet him he is being visited by flocks appear larger, their activities more frenzied. The
a young woman, Amelia “Amy” Loman, the new sales trills and chirps are louder and more frequent as the males
representative of a book publishing company. She is attempt to lure female companions. The females can be seen
there to present the new season’s titles but is treated darting back and forth from ground to bush with slivers of
rather rudely by the impatient Fikry, who complains that straw between their beaks from which to fashion their nests,
business is slow and ignores her suggestions about the providing a safe and warm environment for their eggs and
potential of certain of her favorite new titles. eventual newborn hatchlings.
It soon becomes clear that the bookstore is in disarray, Spring is the season of renewal, when nature reminds
the shelves overcrowded and a mess, the owner himself us of God’s miracles. Just as folks in Massachusetts are
drowning in alcohol and in the process losing a rare, reassured each year that lawns will return to their lush green
valuable copy of “Tamerlane” he had been saving for a color, the leaves on the trees will burst open revealing their
future financial need. (We learn later the truth about what shading canopies, flowers will bloom and the sun will spread
happened to that book.) its warmth and glow, so too are Floridians reminded that
But there is more on Alice Island that is in disarray Spring is the time for rebirth. The circle of life will continue.
than just the bookstore and A.J. Fikry’s life; the film

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