‘Find Me Falling’ on Netflix is soppy, sentimental, heart warming… and not at all original

Film review: Find Me Falling (15) - Netflix exclusive

Starring: Harry Connick Jr, Agni Scott, Ali Fumiko Whitney and Tony Demetriou

Director: Stelana Kliris Run time: One hour, 33 minutes

This is the kind of film that serious critics will hate and the viewing public will love. Why, because it’s soppy, sentimental, heart warming… and not at all original.

But we’re not always looking for that edgy, authentic script. Sometimes we just want 90 minutes of feelgood fun - and this romcom provides that with abundance.

Comparisons with other movies - including the original Mamma Mia - can be made with some conviction, but Find Me Falling does run its own course, has some genuinely likeable characters the viewer can care for and provides those of us who like some mush now and again with the ending we crave.

The story revolves around rock star John Allman, who, after a comeback album fails, escapes to a quiet island in Cyprus - seemingly to get away from it all.

Allman - played by the genial Harry Connick Jr doing his best Dave Grohl impression - soon realises that his cliffside home is a suicide hot spot, and also bumps into his old flame. So, falling in love and falling off cliffs - geddit?

As he slowly ingratiates himself with the locals, he also befriends the local police chief Captain Manoli (Tony Demetriou) and young singer Melina, portrayed superbly by ‘new kid on the block’ Ali Fumiko Whitney, who encourages him to pick up the guitar again.

All the main characters are interwoven neatly into the plot, against a backdrop of Cypriot culture, traditional street scenes and beautiful coastal views.

There’s a few ups and downs, an original Connick Jr song that stays in the head long after much of the film does, some genuinely funny scenes and the kind of ending that sends us all to bed happy.

It won’t win any accolades or advance the careers of anyone except the talented Fumiko Whitney, but it made me smile for an hour and a half and it will do the same for millions of others.

Rating: 7/10

By Jeremy Ransome