The Bookshop (2018)

This was another little film that should have been better than it was.
Florence Green (Emily Mortimer) is a widow who converts a long empty building into her new home though it never mentions where she lived before or what her previous occupation was.
She faces both support and opposition in her small town but tries her hardest to persevere.
Mrs. Gamart (Patricia Clarkson, with a stagy British accent) is fine with having a bookstore but not in the old historic building that Florence has selected, as she had her own sights on that building and will use whatever means necessary to get her own way, whether ethical or not (sounds familiar?).
In Florence's corner is the old recluse Mr. Brundish (Bill Nighy). Side Note: Bill Nighy is in basically ever British movie ever only now, he finally looks old. Mr. Brundish is a huge book lover, but hates author pictures, so the back covers are burned. But he utterly adores Ray Bradbury and even thinks Lolita should be read by everyone. The scene where he attempts to tell off Mrs. Gamart is epic and one of the best scenes of his career.
There are two other characters, Milo North (James Lance) who is the typical one-dimensional villain and Christine (Honor Kneafsey), Florence's little helper who is a rather lively character for a child but she's great. However, the reasons behind Christine being forced to find work elsewhere needed more explanation.
And it ended sadly, despite all of Florence's courage, she is forced to go out of business but Christine is determined not to let the evils win, 'accidentally' burning down the building so everyone ends up disappointed.
Still, Nighy and Mortimer deliver brilliant performances and have palpable chemistry. And I do love books, but the film just had too many questions to be as good as it should have been. Grade: B