The 1981 version starring Brooke Shields was a terrible teen film so why redo it? You’d have to ask director Shana Feste (Country Strong, The Greatest) that question. She also helped rewrite the script so unfortunately for her career she is really involved. I think this is most likely going to turn out to be a film on her résumé that she wants to hide from the world. It is that bad folks. The kind of bad that has people giggling at its awfulness while watching.
At their high school graduation ceremony David (Alex Pettyfer – Magic Mike, Lee Daniels’ The Butler) gazes longingly at Jade Butterfield (Gabriella Wilde – The Three Musketeers – 2009, Carrie – 2013). Although they have never exchanged a single word over their years together in school David has carried a torch for the quiet blonde girl from a privileged background. Actually Jade has not exchanged a word with any of her classmates. After the death of her older brother Chris she has spent her high school years with her parents, Hugh (Bruce Greenwood – Star Trek: Into Darkness, I, Robot) and Anne (Joely Richardson – from television’s Nip/Tuck) or with her nose stuck in a book. That hard work has paid off as she has been accepted into pre med at Brown and will take part in a prestigious internship with a heart surgeon soon after graduation.
Almost upon the first time she exchanges a few words with David her life is about to change greatly. The two young dissimilar teenagers fall deeply in love much to the chagrin of her father. He does not think that David is good enough for his daughter and will somehow sidetrack her. When it becomes apparent that Jade is rethinking her future including the internship so she can spend more time with David, Hugh will do whatever it takes to keep the two apart.
A teen romance featuring a privileged girl and a from the wrong side of the tracks guy and evil an father wanting to keep young lovers apart is not enough when you have a film chock full of corny dialogue and zero character development. Those credited with writing the film (Feste and Joshua Safran based on the novel by Scott Spencer) should be embarrassed! They did no discernible writing what they did was cut and paste. They took parts of many different romance films and just glued those scenes/plot devices together. Obviously I am exaggerating to make a point, but there really were no original moments in the Endless Love. Even the obstacles between the two young lovers are so ridiculously contrived that I didn’t see them as threatening in the least. Precious little conflict, poor dialogue, silly scenes en masse…
Most of the cast seems to realize that like the house in the end the film is going up in flames and so they disengage. Pettyfer and Robert Patrick (Terminator 2: Judgment Day, Walk the Line) as his father turn in a solid performance; the same cannot be said for the rest of the cast. In all fairness, they cannot be blamed for looking pained as they deliver awful lines.
It got so bad I began to wonder if the restraining order issued against the film’s character David could be transferred to the entire film vis-à-vis the entire movie going population. That would be my Valentine’s Day present to you all. A sign of true love!