User reviews

I am utterly disappointed with the screenplay for this incredible story. The book was wonderful. It had deep and complex characters. It wasn't just your average love story wherein two people find each other. It was a love story about a community. How they loved, how they lost, how they survived and stayed strong. It was a love story about a woman finding out where she truly belonged and realizing who she wanted to be. It was a love story about finding unexpected family in people you barely knew. And of course, it was a love story of two people realizing what they meant to each other. So to save time, the writers mostly skipped to that last bit. And in doing so, they robbed ALL the female characters of their strength and confidence. They made them needy and reactive. Not just the lead; ALL of them. If you've not read the book, this movie is a cute and generic romance with all the typical elements Hollywood requires. Nothing memorable for good or ill. Which is a shame, because the book offered so much more.

Maybe it's too much to expect a film drama to be as good as a book. The book funny and gripping and tragic, and develops the story using the letters to and fro between Juliet and others. Gradually, she comes to learn of the hardships, hunger and horrors that the people of Guernsey experienced during WW2. That seemed to me to be the main point of the book, but these are reduced to just a few short scenes. The film is nicely acted but dwells more on the love-life dilemma of Juliet, and is quite bland compared to the book.

Excessively sentimental film that really falls into the 'chickflick' category despite pretensions to something more meaningful. It totally fails to explore properly the tensions that arise in a society under military occupation, and is very simplistic in its view of good and bad.

Lily James is adequate as the lead and looks very well in the 1940s fashions, but some of the other characters are more caricatures than real people. The child parts are played well. Jessica Brown Findlay's talents are wasted in the small role of the saintly Elizabeth.

Most irritating is the way it has been filmed in terms of locations. There's nothing intrinsically wrong with filming in England a story which is set in Guernsey; but it would be better if it was at least depicted realistically. During WWII St Peter Port was a substantial town with a proper harbour, and Guernsey had an airfield (at which the occupying German forces landed); but from this film you would think that planes could only land on the beach, and that St Port was a tiny fishing village on a hill.

The ending was obvious from the first 10-15 minutes

While being very well set and picturesque I found myself very annoyed by the repetitive breathy acting style of Lily James. I blame the direction as she should have been encouraged to change or vary her style. Good story for all that.

This is a Hallmark movie through and through. Sappy story, poorly paced with slow and unintriguing dialogue. These poor people from Downton Abbey got tricked into making this mediocre film. Every episode of Downton had better writing than this.

But the cinematography, original music, and cast make it watchable, if just barely. Apparently there's a book that makes a lot of people rate it too highly here on iMDB. If you are an Anglophile then you'll probably be able to tolerate it and if you're a sap then you'll probably enjoy it. For me it wasn't a complete waste of an evening but it definitely left me unfulfilled and underwhelmed.

An utterly predictable and boring story with equally predictable and colorless characters. The real plot would deserve a lot more attention but probably not with these actors whose performance lacks true emotions. I'm not surprised by the fact that Michiel Huisman and Lily James gave me nothing, but I would have expected Penelope Wilton to be a lot better as she was killing it in Downtown Abbey as a supporting character. Or maybe I'm just so used to soul touching dramas that I can't appreciate the simple "family films"? Yeah maybe, but I'm not sure this movie was intended to be a family film either.

I watched this mistakenly thinking it was going to be a historical drama, and I was wrong. It is not a good film by all means. Though admit to having a good idea of, well actually knowing, how 'The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society' was going to end well before it ended, with the love-related aspect of the story being telegraphed a little too early. Didn't care for the character of Mark. Despite him serving some point to the story, with a crucial part of the plot being resolved with his involvement, he was rather one-dimensional and didn't have much personality or anything to make one endear to him. Within the period, he seemed a little out of place. The same goes for how he is played. Matthew Goode's part was also on the underwritten side but he was much easier to like.

Such a beautiful story, but so many weird moments that felt as if the feelings weren't there or the chemistry wasn't there or the scene was forced. A missed opportunity maybe?

See the favorable long reviews for a description of this flick. It is a well done drama, with good cinematography, but it just moves a little too slowly. It's like reading a book. Note that I am not an action-movie only kind of guy. We watched this streaming and had 40 minutes left to go when our connection got interrupted. We decided it wasn't worth the extra 40 minutes.

If you are familiar with the occupation of the Channel Islands during WW2 and life during that period then this is just a sentimental romance story. If not, then it may be slightly educational. Could not fault the acting but was very disappointed that filming was not done in the island itself for specious reasons (another recent CI based movie Beast (2017) did bother to make the effort of filming in Jersey for external scenes to maintain authenticity). Visitors planning a trip to Guernsey based on the film will either be very disappointed or pleasantly surprised so may want to research first.

It felt like they rushed through it and didn't give sufficient time for each character. I understand that it was a movie, but I feel it would have been better to adapt the novel as a miniseries.

Rather disappointing. The Ashton character is a rather naive git.

Having been to Geurnsey only a few years ago I guessed that much of what was shown wasn't filmed there.This was a combination mystery and old fashioned transfer with an appropriate ending.Whilst not without its merits i felt that this was at least thirty minutes too long.That and the title is not likely to entice many people to watch it.Indeed i was just one of three people in the audience.

There's a great story in here somewhere ruined by a terrible script and twee direction. And then, to finally Bury it a hefty amount of predictability and cliché. If you can't guess what's going to happen in the first ten minutes then...

That's before you add in the constant over dramatic sighing through the film. Everyone seems on the verge of a panic attack. It reminds me of something from a French and Saunders sketch.

Which is a genuine shame. The sub plot about Elizabeth and the occupation of Guernsey is the gem. But someone decided to hide it a third rate British rom com.

A bit predictable from the very beginning with nothing in the way of surprises or twists and turns. Very nicely photographed but the country boy character was very non 1946 in hair style and stubble. The characters were all a bit hollow and two dimensional and a bit more background of their time during the German occupation would have added a lot to the plot and enjoyment. Channel Island locals were a lot better fed than the German occupiers during the war as the locals got Red Cross parcels but the Germans were not allowed a share of the contents so Potato Peel Pies were probably not necessary. A bit ho hum all the way through not worth seeking it out.