ENDLESS LOVE (2014) – The Review

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It states in the credits that ENDLESS LOVE is based on a novel by Scott Spencer. Some may even remember Brooke Shields in a film in the 80’s also by the same name featuring the iconic hit song by Lionel Richie and Diana Ross. Though I doubt that the majority of the people who will see this new version of the film will know that this story of young love is taken from those sources. Even those who are familiar with them will have a hard time acknowledging that this is the same story. Outside of the names of the characters and the title, Shana Feste’s 2014 film ignores many of the darker themes from the source material in-lieu of a more accessible romance for today’s younger audience.

David (Alex Pettyfer) has always longed-for Jade Butterfield (Gabrielle Wilde) from afar during high-school. Now that the summer before college is upon them he decides to finally make his move. Her quiet and standoffish ways are quickly dropped as the two begin a summer of love. But her father’s imposing views on the world and his desire for her to be with someone more from high society seems to be getting in the way. Now it is up to Jade to decide what path she wants for her life.

For the first twenty minutes or so there are moments where you do begin to get enveloped in their relationship. Given the trend we often see in this genre, much of their actual love story is condensed in 30-second increments to the tune of a catchy indie rock song; I guess it’s good that I happen to like many of the songs featured here. But ENDLESS LOVE promotes such an ideal version of falling in love that you never truly see any form of the anxiety, apprehension, and awkwardness that typically accompanies young love. Having both teens be mostly normal and wholesome may not be a bad thing for the audience that this film will most likely attract. However this picture perfect couple is a far stretch from the disparaging reality of today’s high school life. The film is so squeaky clean that even when a group of teens say that they’re going to go get high and break into the zoo you don’t even see them smoke pot. Pettyfer’s working-class “bad boy” is anything but the bad apple you’d expect. But who needs harsh reality when you can watch slow motion montages and broad gestures of love. All of this almost becomes as tiresome as the hoops the story seems to jump through to create some form of drama for the hopelessly in love couple – because we all know parents just can’t accept young love. This tired plot device makes the majority of this film seem to drag on much more than it should.

One good thing is that the whole cast is actually better than you would think. Well . . . all except for one: Alex Pettyfer. The fact that he doesn’t even look close to the 18-year-old he is supposed to play is something that I never could get past. Even as the film progresses I was consistently reminded of this. On the other hand Gabriella Wilde has such a waifish and frail frame that she easily passes for the part – even if she’s technically older than Pettyfer in real life. She plays the part with rolled shoulders and a barely escaping smile at the onset, but as her character becomes more comfortable living life for herself, she seems to shed a new skin and practically glows on the screen. Even David’s buffoonish friend played by Dayo Okeniyi does a surprisingly good job and is somewhat memorable in the few scenes he’s given. Who helps elevate the melodrama in the last half of the movie the most though is Joely Richardson as Jade’s mother. Her characterization of a woman doubting her life decisions is a bit richer than the standard mid-life crisis that the script gives her to work with.

Shana Feste gives the film just enough heart to make this love affair not completely hopeless and directs the mediocre script with much style. I would say you kind of fall for the couple as they start to fall in love in the first third of the film. It’s just that my love for the film didn’t last for the whole drawn-out duration. Every requisite cliché you would expect in a film like this is put on display and made all the more dramatic through the not-so-subtle script that hits you over the head with it themes. That being said, I’m fully aware that ENDLESS LOVE wasn’t made for the film critics or for the married late twenties audience. Teenage girls will drag their high-school flings to the theaters this weekend in the hope that they too have captured the “lightning in a bottle” romance put forth on the screen. And although the two main characters aren’t as offensive or as vapid as some films of this nature, we still have to watch them go through the customary acts of love that we’ve all seen before . . . like make love next to a roaring fireplace in the middle of May. (sigh)

ENDLESS LOVE is in theaters Friday, February 14th, 2014

OVERALL RATING: 2.5 OUT OF 5 STARS