Love, Rosie: 'Astringently fresh look at teenage intimacy'

Bad timing, bad decisions and a whole lot of fidgeting follow the relationship trail of best friends Alex (Sam Claflin) and Rosie (Lilly Collins) — two kids in Dublin who have been holding hands since the age of 5. They share their most intimate secrets, and when Alex loses his virginity, Rosie is the first to know.

But for all their closeness, they somehow don't hook up. That causes a lot of heartache when Alex and his family move to Boston. Double damage for Rosie, who must endure Alex's absence while contending with a pregnancy (from her ex-boyfriend) and subsequent single motherhood at 19.

There's a familiar "Four Weddings and a Funeral" ring to this, but director Christian Ditter (working from an original novel by Cecelia Ahern) is far less subtle with the sexual jokes and is the type to dot every "i" with a felt marker. Still, "Love, Rosie" has its glittering moments, if only because Claflin and Collins bring a welcome astringent freshness to the whole thing.

One thing you realize, though, is that Skype and texting have taken much of the romance out of long-distance relationships. In "Four Weddings," Hugh Grant and Andie MacDowell hardly ever have contact, but when they do meet, boy, they sizzle.