Movie Night: Endless Love (2014)

Hello friends! :)

It's 2AM, September fourth and I just finished watching the movie, Endless Love (2014). This is a remake of a 1981 movie with the same title starring Brooke Shields and Martin Hewitt. The main characters are played by Alex Pettyfer (I Am Number Four, Magic Mike) as David Elliot and Gabriella Wilde (The Three Musketeers, Carrie) as Jade Butterfield. I actually never heard of this movie (I know, where have I been?) until some friend of mine posted it on facebook and I got curious. To be fair, I watched without "googling" anything about the story (film or book).

I was a little excited to see Alex Pettyfer in it since... well, he's hot and good looking (superficial, I know! LOL). There are a lot of romantic and/or drama-filled feel good movies coming and I want to see how Endless Love plays out. First, it did not really catch my full attention like The Fault In Our Stars did (or maybe because I read TFIOS). I like the movie in the sense that I actually enjoy seeing different kinds of passionate love, and the movie kind-of highlights that. Just to be clear though, by passionate I mean beyond the physical or sexual feeling. I have a bit of a problem with the movie though. I am no movie critique but I think some parts were dragging and some parts were kind of rushed. Some events (past) weren't really established in the film. They (past events) were talked about; although just in passing and were never explained, I guess.

Example, the reason why Jade's father's had this certain attitude was not established in the beginning. Granting a father (who's a doctor), who has high hopes of her daughter getting into medical school, would be difficult on his daughter upon seeing that a guy like David could jeopardize her chances. It was just at the end that Jade casually explained why her father was difficult to all of them. Another part of the movie that was not established was David's relationship with Jenny (played by Emma Rigby). Although I like that they didn't put much focus on that, I do not think Jenny's character was largely relevant apart from that one bit that got David arrested. I also find that some scenes were a bit "hurried", like they were never given much attention. An example would be that David caught Jade's father cheating and then he was taken for a boat ride the following day just to be intimidated to not say anything.

The premise of the movie is finding something to love that is worth fighting for. Both Jade and David did find each other and fought for it no matter how much Jade's father tried to break them off or ruin David's life. However, I feel like the story was dragged out yet hurried as well. When I watch movies, I wait for a certain bit or scene that would move me. This movie, I did not really have strong feelings toward it while watching but I did "like" how "light" it was and it was "cutesy". Maybe I just like that idea of passionate love and for a few minutes I lived vicariously through the characters.

What boggles me the most is reading the plots of both movies (1981 &2014). It just made me confused. They're both based on the same book but they told very different stories. Maybe the producers and the director didn't want to just remake the movie for the sake of doing it, which is admireable. I have not seen the 1981 movie but based on their Raspberry Awards, they have 6 nominations for the worst actress, director, etc.

P.S. There were "kilig" scenes but not a lot.

Final verdict:
Story: 2.5/5
Movie Experience: 3/5

'Till the next movie night!

xx

Now Playing: Pitch Perfect

I know I may be late on this, but I have already seen this movie 5 times in 2 days! 2 days! I can only tolerate a few so-so movies and there's only a handful of movies I love to watch countless of times (like Enemy at the Gates, 50 First Dates, The Devil Wears Prada, Sex and the City 1&2, Titanic and very few Filipino movies). I allow myself to drown in chick flicks especially when I'm PMS-ing and looking for something to comfort me. When I can't find that comfort in food, I watch movies.


The first time I saw this movie was with my siblings and I was not in the mood so I didn't really see the whole movie. The second time was at the office, when my office-mate told me she's already seen it. Since then, I have been watching it until Sunday when I let my boyfriend see the movie after we had breakfast. Right now, I'm itching to watch it again!


Sure, there's GLEE that we can compare it with (although I'm so bored with Glee right now, no offense). However, I don't think they're both even the same (well, except for their Broadway-experienced stars). There's something inviting about this movie that it immerses you into the story. The movie has attitude, aside from the comical antics of Rebel Wilson (who plays "Fat Amy") who is SUPER HILARIOUS! I think she made the movie super funny in a way. I also love (SURPRISE, SURPRISE!) Beca's character! I love her. She's spunky and so cool. Anna Kendrick is a surprise to me because well,  I just saw her in Twilight. I was so shocked that she sings REALLY WELL! Of course, add that to the fact that I did not know that she used to do Broadway. Amazing voice! Can I just also say that even though the story is just light, no heavy dramas (despite the early resentment Beca has for her dad on his divorce to her mom, thank goodness!), it's very appealing and it made sense. I love that even the story is just light, they do not make it feel nor look like the movie's dull or the excitement you get when watching is just fleeting.

To get a grasp on what I'm talking about (if you guys haven't seen the movie yet) please check out the videos below. :)