‘Four Letters Of Love’ Review – Just Another Beautiful, Boring Love Story

It is a familiar tale of star-crossed lovers. Four Letters of Love attempts to add its two cents on the story trope. In a yawning yarn, the film boasts an impressive cast and beautiful Irish locales, but overindulges in emotional sap. It plays like a dime-store Nicholas Sparks romance, leaving us disinterested. Four Letters of Love reads like a long-winded letter, forever to the point and ultimately unsatisfactory. Even the hopeless romantic crowd may find this to be a dreary trip to boredom.

The film starts with an older Nicholas (Fionn O’Shea) reflecting on his life and love. In a story that unfolds haphazardly through different eras, the timeline feels muddled. The story proper is about Nicholas and Isabel (Ann Skelly). Ideally suited, yet they find themselves at a crossroads. Between family feuds, differing passions, and matters of faith, Nicholas and Isabel’s love grows further apart. 

Family disruptions and tragedy befall both, with Nicholas’s father, William (Pierce Brosnan), quitting his job as a mindless bureaucrat to become a painter. For Isabel, her life ruptures when an accident befalls her brother. This prompts her mother (Helena Bonham Carter) and father (Gabriel Byrne) to send her off the island they call home for a convent on the mainland. As Nicholas and Isabel find their lives in tatters and scattering in a thousand different directions, it seems their love is over. However, fate intervenes as we would expect. Miracles do happen, and these two star-crossed lovers are together again. 

Four Letters of Love aims to be something magical by blending a seed of realism with a story of faith and virtue. While these are compelling attributes, the film itself seesaws on this objective rather than giving us something worthwhile or even elements to chew on. The film is told across the decades, working in a nonlinear narrative that leaves the viewer feeling disoriented and unfulfilled. The film aims to play on the idea of love conquering all, and yes, in these stories, one expects this bit of fanfare. It’s just the execution and ultimate ending that remind us of other films and novels that both deliver and elevate the concept. 

A bloated narrative structure leaves us in the Irish moors. However, the talents of the cast provide a glimmer of hope in an otherwise foggy brew. Brosnan, while far from the film’s central characters, anchors this picture with a commanding screen presence and natural charm. The former 007 is right at home and provides us with much of the story’s central action. His character’s life as a workaday civil servant comes to an abrupt end when he interprets a message from God. This divine intervention prompts him to become a painter. His decision to abandon his wife and son and stake a claim off the coast of Ireland is arguably the film’s strongest crux.

The story of Nicholas and Isabel is the primary focus. Still, the musings of Brosnan or those of Helena Bonham Carter, who, as Isabel’s mother, Margaret, is a firecracker of a personality, draw us like moths to the flame. It is never a good sign when the story’s supporting characters are more interesting and developed than those of the main characters. Therein lies the challenge and folly of casting such dynamic personalities in a film that is otherwise flat-footed. 

Another notable aspect of the film is the sweeping portrait it creates of Ireland. A multitude of emotions arise from the breathtaking cinematography. Many frames are like a painting come to life; in fact, the film’s ending holds a stunning landscape by William, capturing the story’s final beats. Unfortunately, the tried-and-true elements fail to come together into something magical; however, the film’s look and scope are truly magical. 

Ultimately, genre fans may find film to be equivalent to watching paint dry. The talents of the cast, particularly the veterans, are wasted on a worn-out love story we’ve seen plenty of times. Beautiful to look at, but falls short. It is like a picture book that, through majestic imagery, rushes to find some deeper meaning.   

Four Letters of Love will debut in select theaters on July 25, 2025, courtesy of Quiver Distribution.