Lisa from Boondock Ramblings and I are back to watching and sharing about comfy cozy (and as we move closer to Halloween, spookier) movies for the fall season.

Our last and final movie we watched is The Storied Life of A.J. Fikry, starring Kunal Nayyar, Lucy Hale, Christina Hendricks, and Deputy Dewey – I mean, David Arquette.

So this movie is based on a book, about a grumpy bookseller who lives on an island that is very hard to get to. His wife has recently passed away, and his grief is enormous, swallowing him up like every drink, every bottle of wine he consumes, every night. His life is looking pretty bleak and miserable, honestly, and then one day, it changes. And with that one thing, everything changes, and not just for A.J. Fikry, this grump of a bookseller, but for a whole orbit of people who are in his life.

A few things happen, actually. First his prize possession, his very rare copy of Tamerlane by Edgar Allan Poe is stolen. Secondly, he finds a small two year old girl abandoned in his bookstore, with a note saying that she is being left for the owner of the bookstore, in general but not specifically, that would be A.J. Something about this child, Maya, pulls A.J. together. He adopts her, and raises her, and from here, life happens.

This is a movie about second chances, about living after things go south, finding happiness when perhaps you have given up on that ever happening. It is about love and life and all the small moments that make life what it is. The everyday moments. The moments in the quiet spaces, and of course, the much larger moments as well. It moves like a river through time, or waves upon the beach, each one giving us a new glimpse into these lives, their emotions, their struggles and their triumphs. The beauty that life can offer, and how no matter what, books are there for us. Words. Books. Stories.

Stories. We all have them. Good, bad, ugly. And we are along for the ride for the stories of these people of Alice Island. There is happiness and sadness, knowing when a chapter ends, and when to start a new one.

I think the actors in this did a fantastic job. Kunal Nayyar, from the Big Bang Theory, was so far from his character on that show and was so believable as A.J. Lucy Hale, from Pretty Little Liars did a great job playing a grown up, since the last time I saw her was in Pretty Little Liars as one of the liars and in a terrible relationship that grossed me out the entire series – anyway, she was the sunshine to Nayarr’s grumpy. David Arquette was amazing – I always picture him as Deputy Dewey from Scream, and he also played a police officer in this movie, however Lambiase, his character was so much more than Dewey. He was sincere, compassionate, understanding, and not dopey. I loved that he formed his own book club. Christina Hendricks as Ismay was also perfectly cast – she played her role very well.

Overall, I found this movie to be heartwarming, heartbreaking, and poignant. Good times and bad, the small moments that form a life.

Of course, as a very visual person, I loved the setting and the look of this movie. The island, the bookstore itself, the cozy nooks in the bookstore aisles, the living quarters above the store, just all of it, the weather and the store reflecting all the passages of time.

I have not read the book yet that this movie is based on. I do have it in my collection of physical books, somewhere. One day I will get to it.

And this was it! The very last movie of Comfy Cozy Cinema!

Be sure to check out Lisa’s post on her blog, here.

I hope that whatever you do today, that you do something that makes you smile!