'My Oxford Year' review: Sparks fail to fly in this Netflix romance

WHAT IT'S ABOUT American Anna De La Vega (Sofia Carson) has arrived at the University of Oxford to study Victorian poetry for a year before starting a job at Goldman Sachs.

But there's little time for poems when you're the protagonist in a romantic drama. On her first day in England, Anna meets Jamie Davenport (Corey Mylchreest), who will become the other half the equation in "My Oxford Year."

As usual, things don't start out great: Jamie speeds through a puddle in his sports car and splashes Anna as she walks on the sidewalk. Then they have an awkward encounter in a fish and chips shop.

And yet, lo and behold, Jamie is seeking his doctorate and set to teach one of Anna's classes. He's stunned to learn that Anna has never been to a pub. A night out on the town leads to something more. 

That's all you need to know about this Netflix movie, directed by Iain Morris ("The Inbetweeners") and adapted from the Julia Whelan novel of the same name.

MY SAY "My Oxford Year" sends the viewer through the usual paces, with nary a surprising moment or development or gesture. Even a "big" reveal that fundamentally changes the nature of the characters' relationship is not a particular surprise. 

It's got no actual interest in life at the University of Oxford, which is presented here as a generic background for a tepid romance.

You don't need to be a leading authority on Young Adult literature to know exactly where this is going.

The only potential for redemption lies in the actors making the characters likable or otherwise compelling enough to give the audience some reason to keep watching. And there is exactly one cast member who manages to do that.

Unfortunately, it's the veteran Dougray Scott, who plays Jamie's father. He's terrific, managing to make a ridiculously wealthy person into an empathetic figure. A lesser actor would've given into the cliches. He steals every scene he's in.

But he's not in many.

Anna and Jamie, on the other hand, couldn't be less interesting. They're the sort of characters that earnestly quote poems while making eyes at each other. She's tough and earnest. He's got a soulful stiff upper lip.

The occasional personality quirk is just flat-out weird. "I have a library fetish," Anna says.

They have no discernible flaws. They do nothing wrong. They might have an occasional argument, but any conflict gets resolved quickly.

The actors fail to add anything. There's no spark, no chemistry, no sense of two people being brought together by an unstoppable romantic force. They love each other because the story demands it. 

It's exceedingly dull and yet another movie that seems to have been made solely to fulfill a perceived Netflix programming need.

BOTTOM LINE There's no reason to bother with "My Oxford Year" unless you're a YA romance completist.