Endless Love is apparently a remake of a 1981 movie by the same name—I was unaware of this until I began to try and figure out who directed this modern retelling. Shana Feste, of Country Strong and The Greatest fame, is the culprit, and he doesn't really succeed in crafting an enjoyable film. The story is so straightforward and plain that it's literally painful to watch. What's worse is that the co-writer, Joshua Safran, has worked on such projects as ‘Gossip Girl’ and ‘Smash’. He knows how to make something dramatic and yet there was hardly any of the sort here.
Endless Love isn't the most heinous teenage romance to grace the screen, but it is one of the longest movies I've sat through in recent memory. There isn't anything that interesting happening, and straight up romance isn't my cup of tea. Besides, I have absolutely no patience for teenage histrionics: “I love him, but I can't be with him because my father disapproves! I will defy my father's wishes anyway!” Gag me. Endless Love could test even the most patient at almost two hours.
The story is painfully simple. A privileged Jade is suddenly smitten with David, the long-time blue collar admirer. The recent graduates only have the summer before Jade leaves to follow in her overprotective father's footsteps in pre-med. Her dad, of course, disapproves of anything that distracts his precious Jade, and he obviously manages to dig up dirt on David. The story that progress from there is very unsurprising, though there is a good phoenix metaphor used in the film that I almost didn't laugh at. About the only interesting-igh twist is that Jade's seemingly perfect older brother died a few years prior, and dear old daddy has had a hard time getting over that. Oooh, drama?
Alex Pettyfer and Gabriella Wilde star as David and Jade, and they clearly don't resemble recent high school graduates. While their performances are a step up from Twilight, I can't say that they were at all spectacular. Rhys Wakefield who plays Jade's older brother or Robert Patrick as David's dad might give some of the most believeable performances of the film. Bruce Greenwood as Hugh Butterfield, Jade's father, is a pretty demanding father figure, which makes his performance the entire linchpin to Endless Love, despite the fact that he should be a secondary character. Greenwood plays his part pretty aptly, even if he is a somewhat annoying character just from a likeability standpoint.
The best part of this film—perhaps its only redeeming quality—is that it does call attention to the fact that girls do grow up and are fully capable of making their own decisions away from their parents—no apron strings necessary. It may have been more interesting if Jade had suddenly decided to become a philosophy major or something else instead of going pre-med, but I can't have everything.
