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.

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

Now let me start off by saying that I am not into romantic movies whatsoever. They are always the same clichéd sappy crap with an overly dramatic lead that becomes more annoying than anything by the end of them. THIS WAS NOT THE CASE WITH "WAITING FOR FOREVER"

I was lucky enough to attend Gen Art film festival this year in New York and was able to see this movie. I honestly had no idea what I was getting into or what it was about and it really surprised me! I honestly can say that at no point in the movie was I ever bored; from the get going of the flashback train sequences until the ending scenes I was enthralled with the movie. I was right there with Will and his struggles to show his enduring love to Emma.

The acting was fresh and superb. Tom Sturridge had so much on screen charisma and a believable carefree attitude that I found myself rooting for him the entire time. It is nice when you ACTUALLY like to watch the protagonist of a film! He is surrounded by an incredible supporting cast where I really think that Blythe Danner gives the performance of a lifetime (I smell Oscar nod). The always lovable Richard Jenkins has the best moments in the movie and a surprisingly strong performance by Scott Mechlowicz. At first glance I was like "why is the kid from EuroTrip in this" and after the movie I felt like a putz for ever thinking that statement. He is the voice of everyone in the audience in the movie.

This is also a movie that doesn't have cheap entertainment of constant swearing, blood and guts, gratuitous nudity, etc. It solely focuses on telling the story and making us like the characters for themselves. I think that is a rare statement made by films today and this one should be applauded for it.

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.

Great little film this, was really surprised. judging by the quality and negativity of some reviews I think you need to have reached a certain maturity level to really appreciate the film.

The branding of Tom Sturridge's character(will Donner) being a creepy stalker really is misleading, I urge people to watch the film instead of jumping on the bandwagon! The pace of the film started a little too slow, potentially causing some later scenes to be rushed that had potential to really add to the film.

Despite this, the supporting cast had enough character building(all be it light) to support the lead of the film that ultimately, has enough to deliver the story and bring a tear anyone's eye! Providing your not going into the film having predetermined the lead as a creepy stalker, you will enjoy this film! :)