A Big Bold Beautiful Journey
- Ben Pivoz
- Sep 20
- 3 min read
A Big Bold Beautiful Journey is a charming, lyrical, fantastical romance about forgiving yourself enough to accept love. It is sweet, amusing and clever in the way it uses a whimsical premise to discuss the pain and fear that comes with taking a chance on another person. The story is a silly little clothesline to hang moments of beauty and melancholy. If it doesn’t dig as deep as it could have, well, it isn’t a character study or an examination of the human condition. It is a magical, hopeful, romance, with minimal sappiness or over-sentimentality.
This is just two people who believe in the possibility of love, yet are scared enough of it to think it will never happen for them. It is self-aware, even as the titular journey takes a few unexpected detours to get to the inevitable destination. There are many tonal shifts between serious, funny, sad and magical realism. Somehow, they fit together. It is too strange to imagine it becoming a commercial success and not insightful enough to become an art house hit. Those looking for a strictly traditional romance will likely be confused. However, it is worth the trip for those seeking a slight spin on the familiar.
With David’s car unavailable just in time for an out-of-town wedding, he goes to a bizarre rental service that provides him with an old car and forces a GPS on him. At the wedding, he meets Sarah, a beguiling woman whose teasing reluctance to get to know him leads to lightly flirty banter. On his way home, David’s magical GPS speaks to him, convincing him to pull into a rest stop and eat a fast-food cheeseburger. While doing that, he runs into Sarah. They end up adventuring together, through their individual pasts and toward a possible shared future.
It is pretty amazing that A Big Bold Beautiful Journey (103 minutes, minus the end credits) can handle the silliness of the Car Rental Agency and God-like GPS, while also treating the heavier material with respect and gentleness. Each stop on the journey brings David and Sarah to a mysterious door in the middle of nowhere. Those doors lead to a moment in their lives: David’s high school theater performance, the night Sarah’s mom died, the end of a relationship, etc. Some of these involve reliving traumas, some are them experiencing something from a different perspective.
It is an intriguing approach to the “looking back on your life” formula. It is not simple reminiscing; it is forcing them to confront their choices, almost in real time. What does their reaction say about them? What does it mean as far as what kind of person they are, or if they are capable of accepting love?
That is where the screenplay falls short. A Big Bold Beautiful Journey is consistently engaging, though it doesn’t push hard enough on what these revelations tell the audience/characters about each other/themselves/ourselves. There are scenes that come close to introspection, but it then backs off for more conversations centered around why Sarah doesn’t think they should give each other a chance. Colin Farrell and Margot Robbie are both very lovely in their roles. It is enjoyable seeing them explore their emotions, joking and pushing each other away. They definitely have the talent to take the subject matter further.
There is poetry in some of the imagery, especially the sequences looking at what could have been or what could be. Director Kogonada cuts through the quirkiness a little, peeking behind the Hollywood sheen of soulmates and true love. This is still that kind of story, with a bit of a Charlie Kaufman meta vibe to it. It is entertaining, feel-good stuff.
3½ out of 5
Cast:
Colin Farrell as David
Margot Robbie as Sarah
Directed by Kogonada
Written by Seth Reiss
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