Italy’s coast is so seductive, even a blabbermouth 19-year-old and an introspective, married writer can sweep each other up. Kat Coiro’s latest film channels the sensual masters of ’60s European cinema, with Kate Bosworth as her wistful heroine. Upon arriving to the island of Ischia, Bosworth’s Jane strays from her incurious husband (Iddo Goldberg) in favor of sightseeing with Caleb (Jamie Blackley), an American teen. His poetic diatribes and idyllic attitude strike at the right moment. They fall for each other—and they fall hard. The stunning backdrop winds up being a crutch for And While We Were Here, which leaves its adept performers unchallenged in the face of forbidden passion. We see a storybook landscape enchant the pair, but we never feel it.
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