Waiting for Forever

Oh Dear. So here we have a patently harmless, naive, romantic young man "stalking" his love. That is a bit tragic, but hardly as disturbing as the critics would have us believe. Anybody with common sense can tell so much. Will as a real-life person would be annoying at the most. If anybody, including Emma, finds Will threatening, then it is their problem.

In dealing with this film many critics harp on this notion of common sense to deride the main character Will and his behaviour. We readers don't need to reminded by some of these grudge-bearing critics that Will's feelings for Emma should probably lead to great disappointment for him. It is obvious. Whether Will is immature in his love is also not entirely clear, despite what many critics say, because love does not belong in the world of the rational to begin with. Will might be unrealistic to pursue the matter, but literature is full of examples like him and they do not always enjoy the wrath of critics.

So where does all this ill-feeling towards Will come from? Perhaps critics feel mocked by the struggling artist Will over the precariousness of their own existence. Here's another theory: Essentially Will stands for a less materialistic way of life. Will is someone who might well adapt better in a more simple society than most critics would. If more people would live like him, the result would be lower levels of industry, especially in the media area, which might then become a craft again. This might actually not be a bad thing, though we'd miss out on a lot of soap operas. But these ideas are politically incorrect. Most critics would quickly have to change in such an environment, perhaps to their detriment. They are all too aware of this. They should stand by their shallow interests openly, rather than trash a nice idea from behind the veil of culture.

"Waiting for Forever" held it's World Premiere at the Santa Barbara International film festival in February and since then it as been at a host of festivals. I just attended a premiere screening at the Gen Art Film Festival on Thursday April 8, 2010 in New York City. In the audience sat the director James Keach, writer Steve Adams and several actors and actresses from the film including Rachel Bilson, Tom Sturridge, and Blythe Danner. Below is what I thought of the film and how it ranked compared to films similar to its own genre.

The basic premise of "Waiting for Forever" is about a guy named Will (Tom Sturridge) who has been in love with his best friend Emma (Rachel Bilson) ever since they were little. This is his story about confronting the woman he loves and what it took for him to finally do that. Why he has fallen head over heels for this woman is discussed in the film, as well as the battle of how hard it is sometimes to be honest with the people you love. A somewhat touching yet average film ensues...

Reading the premise above you're probably thinking to yourself, I have seen this film a million times before so why in gods name should I devote 2 hours of my life to this film? I wish I could honestly tell you a good reason because just as it attempts to be different, its dull storyline tends to get in its way. The reason why Will loves Emma is definitely interesting and unique, however, the rest of the film is not. The movie comes off as your typical friend loves friend storyline. The film even tries to throw in sub relationship story lines such as the parents relationship played by the talented Blythe Danner and Richard Jenkins but that subplot just bored me. The storyline doesn't really cash in on how unique the film could be but instead takes the easy way out and therefore just leaves you saying been there, done that.

Tom Sturridge puts on his best "Benny & Joon" impression and does it well. He is probably the most likable character in the film. Sadly about half way through the film his character seems to stop growing so even Will becomes dull but he definitely did a good job with the material he had to work with. Rachel Bilson, who is definitely a good looking woman, does alright here. I hate to say it but I just don't think she has real star power, at least not yet. She does a good enough job for Emma at least for a film of this caliber. Richard Jenkins and Blythe Danner are OK but since they are more established actors both of them have done better films in the past. Like I said they do OK here. As I said even the acting was average.

In conclusion there isn't really much to say about this film...it's your typical love story with a little bit of an interesting story mixed in. The story wears off quickly as the viewer is hoping to see something more out of the ordinary but just gets what would be expected from a film like this. This movie isn't worth a trip to the multiplex, probably not even worth a DVD rental to be fair. I would say this is one of those films that you catch on cable one day and just don't expect much from it and you should be OK.

MovieManMenzel's final rating for "Waiting for Forever" is an 5 out of 10.

A unique love story about friendship and a view of the world from different perspectives, Waiting for Forever explores the connections people make in the face of life's changes. Best friends while they were growing up, Emma (Rachel Bilson) and Will (Tom Sturridge) lost touch a long time ago-as far as she knows. To Will, Emma never stopped being the most important person in his life. Believing them to be forever linked, he goes wherever she goes. Will doesn't have a home, a car, or a "real" job. He survives on his talent as a juggler and entertainer-talents honed through years of showing off for Emma. When her father gets sick, Emma returns to their hometown, trying to leave behind her complicated love life and failing career as a TV actress. Will follows her and decides to once and for all talk with Emma about his feelings.

Waiting for forever is a sweet little independent film. Perfect to watch with your girlfriend or boyfriend, it's probably a great choice for a first date but it's not much more then that. I kept waiting for the story to took off, for the film to get real and deep, profound but it never happened. It's a very simplistic story and although it is entertaining and moves at a good pace there's never real insight into the characters. In fact, most characters are two-dimensional.

As for the acting, nothing outstanding here but overall satisfactory. Rachel Bilson's acting skills are very limited but she always does an OK job. On the other hand,Tom Sturridge was great. His character was not an easy one but he played it very well. Again, the script is to blame for the character's flaws because as far as the way the role was played, it couldn't have been better. Richard Jenkins and Blythe Danner did the best they could with what they were given. I should also mention the soundtrack which was very good and fitting. Overall, it's a sweet little love story but you shouldn't watch this film with high expectations.

6.5/10

It is very unfortunate to know that this movie is hated by critics. I have been living in India and I know what kind of a movie should be called a bad movie. I never heard much about the movie because there is no promotion of this movie what so ever in my part of the world....But it surely came to me as a surprise.

Both the actors worked pretty well. Tom Sturridge has a potential to be a very good actor. He played his role very well and his expressions were outstanding. There was no point in the movie where i could find his skills go blunt.

Rachel Bilson--We always knew a bit of her after she appeared in How I met your Mother for a couple of episodes and she seemed pretty and cute. She carried her pretty smile and nice acting in this movie too. At some places, her acting suffered but I won't blame her for that as her co-actor was wonderful. She played her part brilliantly and 95 minutes passed away.

The only reason I didn't give a 10 to this movie is that it didn't show too much of the couple. They had their share of scenes separately but they should have been together in more scenes as their chemistry was blossoming.

On and all...its a 9/10 for sure and it is a mice cute love story with meaningful dialogues.

I have to say that it came as a shock that Waiting For Forever was an ACTUAL, REAL LIFE, love story. The movie itself kept me hanging on to the tail end of every scene, waiting to see what would happen next. All in one sitting, I smiled with heartfelt happiness, I became filled with anger, and I cried uncontrollably with feeling of deep sorrow. This is what TRUE LOVE does to us as people, and I must say that this movie captured the very essence of it...

If I could, I would take a group of my closest friends to see this movie. It's definitely a great conversation piece. The vivid imagination of the director is clearly represented throughout, capturing not only your attention, but focus on detail as well. I would see this movie ten times again...

MUST SEE - GREAT LOVE STORY!