Endless Love (2014)

Endless Love, starring Alex Pettyfer (Magic Mike) and Gabriella Wilde (Carrie), is a remake of the 1981 film starring Brooke Shields and Martin Hewitt, featuring Tom Cruise's debut, and based on the bestselling novel by Scott Spencer.

The story has been told before in movies like Pretty in Pink: rich boy meets girl from the other side of the track. Like that one, this is a nice summer teen romance. However, in this one, it is the poor boy who falls in love with the rich girl. At their high school graduation, we find out that David (Pettyfer) has had a crush on Jade Butterfield (Wilde) for the last few years, but has never had the nerve to talk to her. Jade, we learn, coming from a wealthy family, has become reclusive after losing her oldest brother a few years before, preferring the company of her parents (Bruce Greenwood and Joely Richardson) and surviving brother (Rhys Wakefield).

After graduation, David sees Jade again while working as a valet at the local country club, where Jade and her family are having dinner. Jade takes the opportunity to ask David to sign her yearbook and as the story goes, boy finally talks to girl, girl finally talks to boy and  they fall madly in love.

As David is from the wrong side of the tracks, Jade's overbearing father does everything he can to split them up. He is also clearly steering Jade towards the future he wants for her even if it means never getting to experience life, including dating and having fun. Jade's mother, on the other hand, encourages the relationship, and tries to encourage David to go to college, even writing a letter of recommendation for him. Jade's brother sides with his mother and David. Further complications arise, but the rest of the movie is as you'd expect, both yearning for the other but not knowing how to get around her dad.

The Blu-ray itself did not have a lot of extra features, just deleted and extended scenes with a making-of segment. Viewable in 1080p High Definition with Digital HD Ultraviolet, the film looked great on the screen and was easy to watch.

Despite having seen the same story over the years played out on the big screen, overall, I actually liked the movie. Mind you, it's not on the level of a film like The Notebook, but for a teen romance film, it played well. The actors were engaging and interesting to watch–helps that they are both easy on the eyes.