Surprised by Oxford

Kent in the film is more of a script artifact, an archetype, inciting incident than he is a fully formed person. We never get any deeper into that character than his persistent belief in Christianity and his bizarre pride in his own virginity. Since we know Kent Weber is a real person, and we know that Dr. Weber’s book is 480 pages long, this is clearly a filmmaker’s choice to keep the focus on Caro’s spiritual journey and not on the relationships between the two of them. That’s too bad, as that would have been a far more interesting story. Perhaps that’s another book. If this was not based on a true story, one could write this film off as subtle evangelical propaganda. However, the film has intelligence and a charm that will keep you watching to see how things work out for Caro.

With all the spiritual turmoil about faith and chastity in the film, it could have gone very wrong, but Whitaker does a masterful job of pulling a romantic drama out of the story. Having not read the memoir, It occurs to me to wonder if he had to torture the book to get this version of the story.  

“…Whitaker does a masterful job of pulling a romantic drama out of the story…”

Here’s where the movie magic really happens: even for an intractable, bitter old agnostic, this is a delightful film. A big part of that pleasure comes from the first act, where Caro arrives at Oxford as a proverbial fish out of the water, and we get to ride along as she discovers the Hogwarts-esque charm of the venerable campus and the gorgeous English countryside around the Cotswolds. Whitaker and his cinematographer Edd Lukas absolutely crushed this aspect of the film, and the soundtrack is perfectly delightful. One could remove the dialogue from this film and still enjoy every minute of it. 

The other pillar of quality in this film is the level of performance by the two dazzling leads. Reid navigates the emerging personality of Caro with skill and confidence. O’Connor delivers Weber with an intensity and precision reminiscent of Jesse Eisenberg’s best performances. Surprised by Oxford will pleasantly surprise the viewer, regardless of your religious leanings.