“I just like to know what’s next.”

Life is about to get serious for Heather (Madelyn Cline). School is over and the real world is knocking, with her invite to New York for a banking job waiting on the other side of the door. Europe calls her name though, and an adventure with friends is how she plans to spend the quintessential last Summer free of responsibility. Falling in love isn’t on the agenda, but don’t we all usually trip and fall when we aren’t looking? Maybe I’m just clumsy.

Boarding the train with Heather are the care-free Amy (Madison Thompson) and the more steadfast Connie (Sofia Wylie). Amy finds a guy to advance a few bases with and Connie watches closely as Heather is temporarily buggered by Jack (KJ Apa), a New Zealander following his grandfather’s travelogue/diary around Europe. He hangs over Amy – quite literally from the discomfort of the overhead baggage storage – and we can see in her eyes that she knows she won’t shake this man. When she realizes they’re both reading Hemingway’s The Sun Also Rises, she doesn’t seem to mind either. It’s one of the better meet-cutes of the year.

Heather and Jack fall hard and fast, a burning meteor we know will soon turn into a meteorite. This is young love, but they’re both very serious about it, and the script keeps it clear that Jack isn’t being completely transparent about his intentions either. He’s hiding something that he knows might hurt her. Despite that, he continues his pursuit and before we know it the pesky Big Apple comes calling again. Heather has to go home. She wants Jack to join. He agrees with his words but not with his body language.

The Map That Leads to You turns into a little bit of a weepy as it approaches the ending, which I think will be appreciated by those who’ve read J.P Monninger’s novel of the same name (or just about any Nicholas Sparks film adaptation). The story is good here and the entire picture looks every bit like a romantic adventure worth getting swept up in. But the character’s don’t get enough time to really know themselves let alone one another, and because of that their connection feels less like a gigantic breaker box and more like a simple On & Off switch. A little less of the hijinks and a bit more character exploration could have led this one in the right direction.

“Does anyone ever really know where they’re going?”

Rating: 2.5 out of 5