Can a popular book from the eighteenth century be adapted into a modern-day movie? That’s the question that filmmaker José Avelino Gilles Corbett Lourenço explores in Young Werther, based on what the film introduces in its opening titles as the 1774 hit novel comparable to Beatlemania, Johann Wolfgang von Goethe’s The Sorrows of Young Werther. It’s a familiar story with charismatic characters whose translation to the present day generally works, if only for good fun.
Werther (Douglas Booth) is not a particularly serious person. He puts a lot of effort into the way he dresses and the indulgences he enjoys, but has a habit of abandoning projects. He quickly ditches his more sensibly-minded friend Paul (Jaouhar Ben Ayed) when he meets and is immediately taken by Charlotte (Alison Pill). After a lovely night together, he’s so in love that he disregards the bombshell that she’s actually engaged. It turns out her fiancé Albert (Patrick J. Adams) is a nice guy who admittedly works way too much, and Werther, undeterred, declares himself Charlotte’s new best friend, ready to spend as much time with her as needed until she realizes that she feels the same way about him as he does about her.
Early on, Paul tells Werther that he knows he’s lying about where he is because he can hear his pants seam being measured. Werther is very much an anachronistic character, someone who still lives as if it’s several hundred years ago, using a cell phone but preferring more archaic and sentimental forms of communication. While some of his behavior is adapted for the present day – he likes to call rather than text, or at least that’s what audiences generally see as their primary form of communication – others stick out as having not been updated, which isn’t necessarily a demerit for this light comedy but also don’t completely work.
Fortunately, Booth, who previously anchored the AMC+ series That Dirty Black Bag, has plenty of personality to carry this film. Werther is always ready for a speech about some passion of his, and has the ability to boost the confidence or energy level of those around him. He’s also great at doing nothing, which steals the more serious Charlotte away from her fundraising work for less important things like getting gelato in the middle of the day. Pill, a standout of series like In Treatment, The Newsroom, and Hello Tomorrow!, plays Charlotte as someone open to a bit of softening up, ready to laugh but not always sure what she wants.
The two leads make a great pair, and Adams provides suitable support as the eternally work-focused Albert, who wants to provide for the family he’s creating but doesn’t understand that spending time with your fiancée is a crucial part of that. Paul’s antics aren’t quite as endearing, and he grounds the film in the present in a different way, wearing a mask with a small bottle of hand sanitizer clipped to his bag so that he can ward off the (unspoken but clearly COVID) germs he knows are likely present all over the hotel room and anywhere else they go.
This is the feature debut for writer-director Lourenço, and it’s an amusing if somewhat predictable ride. Though the costumes are not period, they’re still fun, and the style that Werther has is evident, even if it too feels dated. Booth and Pill’s shared scenes are the best reason to watch this film, which includes some cursing but otherwise feels like it should be appropriate for just about all ages. It’s no longer the 1700s, but this story is apparently still relatable enough thanks to the efforts of those involved in this film.
Grade: B
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Young Werther makes its world premiere in the Special Presentations section at the 2024 Toronto International Film Festival.