"When Anna, an ambitious young American woman, sets out for Oxford University to fulfill a childhood dream, she has her life completely on track until she meets a charming and clever local who profoundly alters both of their lives." 

OUR MOVIE REVIEW:

My Oxford Year has some massive troubles, but it welcomely wears its emotions on its sleeve and there’s no doubting the leads' infinite levels of chemistry. While amplifying the drama for the sake of making the audience tear up, this is one emotional experience that will trick you into falling for this doomed relationship.

The problems lie in the development of the  relationship. While their initial meet cute was in a fish and chips shop, Sofia Carson’s Anna soon discovers that this same man is her newly appointed poetry professor at Oxford. In a lot of ways this film highlights the beauty of at least a piece of Oxford, but this kind of light seems to shine poorly on the institution. 

However, if you gloss over that fact and that Anna doesn’t appear to spend much time in the classroom at her very expensive college - you can fully absorb within the charming back and forth that grows from a certain bleakness to warmth. Carson and Corey Mylchreest’s Jamie are terrific screen partners - assisted by the natural captivation of his British accent against her American one. 

It’s a story about finding love in the most obvious of places, while dealing with personal growth and difficult decisions that lead to an influx of emotion. From Anna’s decision to take a year off to go study abroad and then continue on with her thought out plan for her life. Jamie conquers the things that he desires to do, staying close to home and dealing with a personal issue that puts quite a spin on the relationship. 

Director Ian Morris takes the helm of this romantic dramedy, previously tackling a more comedic value in his direction. It does have a drastic shift in tone from Hallmark style of romance to much more emotional drama by the halfway mark. It’s not the most seamless when the genre shift kicks in, but considering the filmmaker's background, he handles the drama well. 

A predictable fish out of water love story? Yes. Slightly out dated and copy-and-paste side characters? Yes. Emotionally manipulative? Quite possibly. But even with its incredibly predictable moments and recognizable outcomes (looking at one particular film starring a certain mother of dragons), My Oxford Year is a joy to watch and cry through.