MY OXFORD YEAR (2025), review
A running commentary, mild rant, and appreciation by Marcel R. Bülles aka the Tolkienist
I was born to do a review of this particular romantic comedy. I will tell you why.
I have been a life-long Tolkien fan. In 1994 I visited Oxford for the first time. I have visited the City of Spires 30+ times, not always in connection with the Tolkien Society’s Oxonmoot – I have also been to the Tolkien Lecture, just to name it! – but mostly when meeting up with fans from all over the world. I stayed in colleges like St. Hugh’s, St. Anthony’s, St. Margaret’s, Exeter & University (my first!) and I have been to the youth hostel, b&b’s, hotels and what not. One time I stayed with most glorious friends in Oxford, once with Billet Potter (the last living photographer of Tolkien), and outside of Oxford with someone who worked at Christ Church.
Photo taken at Exeter College, Fellows Garden, during the Tolkien Conference
I have been there many, many times. Always as a tourist. Nothing else. I have not stayed longer in Oxford than a week. So part of me has a very idealised vision of this city.
In my mind I have spent years there. I watched ‘Inspector Morse.’ More than once. I have read all of Tolkien and quite a bit of Dorothy L. Sayers. Lord Peter Wimsey is to my liking just as much as Agatha Christie – who I happened to have translated into German (that pesky Parker Pyne!) – and yes, I do know where most of Harry Potter or Pullmann’s stuff were filmed. I missed out on meeting Nicole Kidman when they were filming at Exeter by a week! My former wife brought art to the Ashmolean but that is just… well. Claim to fame in the third degree.
I have seen dozens of pubs, kebap vans, museums and more. I have given tours of all kinds. I love Oxford. It flows in my veins almost as strongly as my hometown of Cologne and if I had the money I’d have a place there to call my own. Preferably around Summertown. Or Jericho. Whatever is available.
Having said all of this, arriving at Gloucester Green in 1994 changed my life. I was walking as if in a haze, the beauty and the history of the city leading to a connection I have rarely felt so strongly to any place in my life. Sure, I once visited the Hill of Tara in Ireland and was transported to a time thousands of years ago – but nothing felt closer to my heart than seeing Exeter College with my own eyes, for the very first time.
And I have watched all of the romantic comedies on Netflix. Yup. After my breakup and ensuing divorce a few years ago I felt lonelier than ever – add the pandemic to that – and one of the few solutions that appeased my soul at least for a while was watching the crappiest films one could imagine. To this day, HOLIDATE is one of my all-time favourites. FALLING INN LOVE is so absurd but it is New Zealand so I am good (there is a certain film trilogy…) ALWAYS BE MY MAYBE may be prejudice reincarnated but at least it is fun. LOVE, GUARANTEED is unintentionally a most cynic representation of everyday US romantics – at least, that’s how I see it. And then you get to all the Christmas and/ or ‘royal’ ones like ROYAL TREATMENT, A CASTLE FOR CHRISTMAS and THE PRINCESS SWITCH. The moment I tune into LET IT SNOW I am happy.
On one occasion I was gushing about all of the entertaining and fun comedies I had been watching to an old friend when were driving home from a Tolkien event I had been a speaker at. Two weeks later I received an email from his wife, thanking me for convincing him to watch romantic comedies with her – for the first time in almost twenty years of marriage. When I am enthusiastic about a thing I tend to overshare… 🙂
Imagine my surprise when I heard about MY OXFORD YEAR. I cannot put into words how I felt when it was announced and I had the pleasure of convincing my true crime loving, reading, listening girlfriend Susi <3 to watch it together with me. At several points during the film she was rather clearly of two minds about that but she is my girl and she knew what to expect!
And then the Oxford Clarion clearly stated: “(We haven’t watched it; reports from Clarion readers welcome!)”
So here we are.
The running commentary
The first shot of the books displayed (Anna Karenina, Wuthering Heights (more than one edition), Emma, Jane Eyre, Mansfield Park (more than one edition), 1984, Frankenstein, Great Gatsby) looks like Juniper Books were asked to do it but could simply not be bothered to do much about it. And then: Cornell. Not Yale or Harvard – those are usually well-known, thanks for nothing, Gilmore Girls! – but Cornell, another Ivy League institution. Top of the Pops. And New York. Of course. Not quite the actual twin cities of Oxford like Bonn, Leiden or Padua – but hey, it’s all international these days. And the Bronx Technical High School’s ‘summa cum laude’ does not exist but looks great. Sure.
That packing style – right out of general travellers’ guide books. Nothing wrong about that.
Cut to High Street. No, that car does not… Anyway. To see Rob Lowe and OXFORD BLUES… a remake of A YANK AT OXFORD.
Does set the scene. Literally.
Mentioning that Bill Clinton went to Oxford does not help. At all. Never visit THE TURF on that one.
And sure enough, it’s the hispanic family with a daughter who made it. She is supposed to work for Goldman Sachs, one of the biggest companies in the world. 2008 is long forgotten. Did I mention this is a US film?
And yup. She has WALDEN in her hands. Really. Life in the Woods. When going to England aka the UK? Ask the Scots, it’s deforested!
And then, the PERFECT shot on the city, Radcliffe Camera at its center. Yes, from certain angles Oxford is quite literally the city of Spires. And it’s raining, so all good.
Sofia Carson is literally smiling like me when I first walked through Oxford. Difference is – she is an actor told to do so. Which makes me worry about MY smile 😀
She starts out in front of Magdalen College where she is going to stay in the Cloister, opposite to C.S Lewis’ former rooms in the New Building.
Victorian poetry. What the hell. Accompanied by Laura Welsh’s MAKE IT HAPPEN. Yikes.
Now, that charming gay English gentleman immediately recognising her for the American she is… SPLENDID.
The room… Okay, I’d take it, too. Particularly at Magdalen.
Cut to the Sheldonian. Sure, why not. Please note OUP still has offices in the Clarendon. AND SHE CHECKS IT OFF HER LIST. When she has just passed the Bodleian Library across the road. And are you telling me – if you were to move into Magdalen… would you not go for Addison’s Walk IMMEDIATELY?!?!?
That list is KILLING ME. It does contain the average ERMEGERD UK peoplez prejudices and expectations you would expect – fish and chips, ah, well -, but the chapels to New College and Exeter but not the colleges? Hm… The fact there are two rivers in Oxford seems to have escaped her. And some of the spaces along the Cherwell are most definitely worth visiting (University Parks, much?)
Kudos to the extra for the “bellend” on Catte Street.
The ensuing encounter in the chippy is actually rather beautiful – if you believe you can speak English just visit any of those shops anywhere in the UK. You might run into the same issues 😀
And then Corey Mylchreest enters, speaking Brrrritish English as he is supposed to, posh wanker that he is, and mocking someone for ‘living deliberately’, a WALDEN reference, of course. Love the Bond bashing, even though I am a Ford Taunus kid (and I believe I started off in a Fiat 500.)
“Fish & Chips for you, love.” There you go, that’s how you do it! “The Codleian” is not too bad, either. What’s up with the phone number, though…?
And no, the film isn’t setting the scene for an enemies to lovers bit. Not at all.
Next bit – Sheldonian, lovely.
By this time, less than eight minutes into the film, Sofia Carson’s portrayal is… emotionally demanding. The whole bright-eyed and bushy-tailed would be fine if it ended here…
She gets to meet her friends in her first session. Everyone has the textbook with them, but not she…. Still WALDEN. And then her hero is made “head of graduate studies” and the stand-in is her DPhil student, the bellend, naturally.
And like magic the textbook appeared. I AM WATCHING YOU!
The perfect cringe dialogue ensues as it should be with a romantic comedy. And the friends she made without having to do anything.
Why that friend would ride on her bike past the so-called Tolkien Table – and Merton – is a mystery to me but it does look splendid.
“Which are we destined to be – friends or lovers?” Exceptional first line.
And then everyday student life – no thanks to ‘Naked Attraction’ – and she is gushing about poetry. Ah, well, who am I to judge. I spent weeks at the American House Library in Cologne, going through Frost, Whitman and their ilk…
And at the first tutoring she becomes a witness to an altercation between her tutor and his father.
Then it’s Matthew Arnold – and the slapstick bit of butting their heads when the assumed girlfriend walks in.
Good to know they are using the “The Broadview anthology of Victorian poetry and poetic theory.”
Then it’s past fencing to the pub. [Which was presumably the Old Court in Windsor, not in Oxford.]
On to some Brit pricks. Awesome. Nobody would ever think Americans are stupid.
She then storms out what looks like the TURF – which it wasn’t. At least we’re right slap bang in the middle of Shmoxenforde. 🙂 And then that would be the way she would take to Magdalen.
Oh no. Pullmann. She loved his books. And so she loves books. And then it has to be… Oxford. The NYPL would have something to say about that. g
Everyone in the US seems to think there is only one UK band. Coldplay. And then it’s ‘Yellow.’ Mkay. The student forces her professor to sing karaoke. Am I the only one thinking this is way beyond what Oxford Uni teaching and interaction should allow for? Ah, romantic comedy. My bad.
Why they are seen walking away from Magdalen (past the corner of New College) is baffling to me. I said so – among many other things by that time – and my girlfriend made it clear to me she’d appreciate us watching the film WITHOUT a running commentary. Ahem.
The kebap van scene is killing me as I had a very serious encounter with one of them, once, seeing one of my co-Tolkien fans ending up in hospital. But they are a tradition in Oxford…
When I stated THERE ARE NO KEBAP VANS IN CATTE STREET, THAT’S NOT ALLOWED! my girlfriend slapped me. Deservedly. [See this hilarious article about the filming and the van.]
The first kiss in the Cloister, perfectly fine, It’s a romantic comedy. She is beautiful, he is not too shabby, either. BUT… we realise there is a darkness in him! AHA! A dark secret!
Wonder Woman, first edition, is at the party and the man who turned her down is dancing with someone else. She is trying to make him jealous with a twat. Does not work.
And again – THAT corner past New College. And the kebap van.
To make it all up he takes her into the Bodleian and the Duke Humphrey’s, of course. And has her read from the first edition Millay. Which is cool. Totally deserves the library kiss. Well, outside in the rain, of course.
[By the way, you can’t stop in front of Magdalen. Traffic. Susi: “MARCEL, shut up!”]
And then it’s the Vaults & Garden, one of my favourite cafés, where the supposed girlfriend warns her off.
Quick stop at the Pitt Rivers. Absolute must. Not the dialogue.
The scenes of their life together – coolio. But the next cut from the TURF really makes me wonder – did they only have THAT part to film at for three days or something?
The 750th Anniversary is rather frivolous as we are not talking about University, Balliol, or Merton!
Then it’s Sylvia Plath and punting. Works for me.
“I just… I still can’t stop gaping at everything like a tourist. It’s just incredible that Shelley and Tolkien and Wilde all wandered through these gardens. We don’t have that back home. All of this… history.”
Uhm. Where is the connection? WHERE?!?! Two oddities and a Roman Catholic linguist? [No offense!]
The list of places to visit in Europe then sounds like a 19th century Baedeker suggestion (“Grand Tour of Europe”), fair enough.
Oxbridge boat race, Morris dancers, all the good stuff. Please will someone tell me what badge she is wearing, though? It is not an Oxford college.
And then the serious part comes in – he is dying from cancer, like his brother.
Their walk through Brasenose Lane is nice, indeed. One of film makers’ favourite places, obviously (see TOLKIEN.)
And then Cecilia turns out to be his brother’s girlfriend.
Well, it is the sad thing in life that it does end. For some later, for some earlier.
At least there’s the 750th Anniversary Ball. Knebworth House or Wayne Manor.
Dougray Scott is the one actor in this I appreciate for he has the toughest job. I can never unsee Catherine McCormack as William Wallace’s sweetheart Murron or as Alice in 28 Weeks Later. She is perfectly lovely, though.
[The whole “bellend” thing gets boring after a while.]
At least there will always be Kylie.
When he collapses and end ups in hospital the next shot changes to Tennyson.
With her birthday she gets to see the family mansion – and drive the Jaguar. Which is kinda hilarious. Unfortunately, she does not pull off the Grace Kelly as well as… Grace Kelly.
The mansion is lovely, the discussion between father and son serious, that gift thoughtful – but the poem. Good grief. Not all and everything is a Hallmark card.
Ah, well, the next hours are cringy af but at least they’re trying…
And Sofia Carson simply does not work with this film. Either it’s in the script or in the direction but the way she plays her role is so… without empathy to almost the very last second of the film. Looking beautifully in any direction does not cut it. Well, the “I love you” bit is really nice, though…
Seriously jealous of how many times they could kiss in Oxford libraries. 1,000% here for that.
The love scene more like 0,001% but there are people who will appreciate this.
The montage of them travelling the world is quite lovely, I have to say. If they had managed to capture this atmosphere in half of the film it would have been a really decent one. To see her alone in all of these images is truly touching and testimony to the love they had. And for her to follow in his footsteps is a nice idea. The last shot onto Oxford… perfect.
But she speaks in that… emotionless cadence. Emily Dickinson as a lock screen. Trying too hard.
Poetry should be tried, tested, lived. Not in this film.
In summary…
An absolutely perfect setting, a fitting frame story, to have love and loss go hand in hand, a human story as it should be. However, there is no line in the development of the characters, they are almost all bland to the point of non-existence, and the few moments that do work happen in the last two minutes of the film. Not really enough.
Not even Oxford can make up for that. Probably a 3/5. More 5/10 than 6/10, though.
P.S. Maybe if she had been in Exeter College… ah, no.
P.P.P.S. I have seen the film four times now and it is growing on me – but that is probably just because I have always considered myself a hopeless romantic. And I love Oxford. So there!
P.P.P.P.S. [Addendum] In case there are Sofia Carson fans out there who do not like this – I love her in The Life List. There she works absolutely splendidly.
