FOREVER MY GIRL

Alex Roe     Jessica Rothe     John Benjamin Hickey     Abby Ryder Fortson     Peter Cambor

     This story is rather like a fairy tale that resembles an adolescent girl’s fantasy, starting out with a tragic jilting at the altar, then moving to the would-be groom’s country music career and fame on the road, and on to regrets and efforts to atone.  The film is written and directed by Bethany Ashton Wolf, based on a novel by Heidi McLaughlin, an author who writes about how people can “find their relationship with God and each other…[her] passion emerged through her personal discovery of how God’s love heals and restores all our brokenness” (information from a search of “Heidi McLaughlin”). 

     The film opens with the bride Josie (Rothe) at the church waiting to go down the aisle when she receives word that Liam (Roe) is not going to appear.  No explanation is given, but he is shown performing country music at concerts, followed by hordes of young people, so we assume that he has chosen that lifestyle over being tied down in St. Augustine, Louisiana, with his high school girlfriend. 

     Eight years transpire, and it is clear that Liam has become an over-indulged star whose every whim is catered to and every need taken care of by his staff, largely his agent Sam (Cambor).  Two incidents draw him back home:  Damage to his precious cell phone that he has kept for years and news that his best friend from school was killed.  We find out later why that phone is so important.

     At any rate, he impulsively runs to the funeral, abandoning his music tour, and of course crosses paths with his jilted sweetheart Josie.  There, he learns of some shocking news that could potentially change his life forever.  It prompts him to remain in his hometown for a while, staying with his widowed father, who is Pastor Brian (Hickey) at the community church.

     Never underestimate the ire of a small town when someone has transgressed, and that ire is what Liam faces when he returns home.  He gets it from Josie (whom he clearly still holds a torch for), his father, Josie’s brother, and all the townspeople he meets.  But his father is a good Christian pastor, and soon preaches (apparently after wrestling with his own demons) about mercy and forgiveness.  Liam will not have an easy time of it, proving how hard it is to overcome a bad reputation, but he handles it with humility and grace—making a few mistakes here and there—and learning that money is not necessarily a motivator for everyone.  The rest of the fairy tale spins out largely as expected, particularly in consideration of the principles of the novel’s author.

     The film is well directed and the actors are skilled, particularly Hickey, who has to portray someone with a son he loves but gives him grief, a pastor who must comfort others, and ultimately, show that he can see his son in a different light.  Alex Roe and Jessica Rothe as the leads do well individually, but the chemistry between them is less convincing. 

     Along with the day-dream-like script, I had a big problem with the lines written for Josie’s daughter Billy (Fortson).  The actress was great, but there is no way a seven-year-old would say things like, “You two weren’t exactly subtle, if you know what I mean” and we should “help him process the news.”  Nor would she be likely to reproduce some guitar riffs after seeing them for the first time, without any previous training on the guitar.

This is a film for fairy tale lovers.

Grade:  C-                                    By Donna R. Copeland

THE 5TH WAVE

Chloe Grace Moretz   Nick Robinson  Alex Roe  Liev Schreiber  Maria Bello  Ron Livingston  Maggie Siff

          What are the waves, this being the fifth, you may ask.  The Fifth Wave refers to a series of attacks by an alien planet that needs earth’s resources.  Their invasion comes in waves, such as a gigantic power outage, an earthquake with tsunami, Asian flu, occupation (including occupation of individual humans), and finally full-on invasion with the purpose of killing all survivors.

           Cassie (Moretz) is the narrator who is in high school when the first wave hits.  She is living with her mother, father, and younger brother and interested in the usual teen preoccupations.  She has a crush on a classmate and is teased by her best friend.  With progressive waves of alien attacks, she anguishes about her losses, but is determined to rescue her brother who was taken away with other children in a school bus on orders of the U.S. military.  Cassie was supposed to go too, but missed it when she went to fetch her brother’s toy bear. 

         What follows is a chronicle of her experiences in trying to survive and rescue her brother and never knowing whether a person she meets is enemy or friend.  The aliens have taken to “occupying” human bodies as a control measure.  All this adds up to a pervasive paranoia in which no one knows whether a person is human or alien. 

          The first half of this drama is intriguing (although not really original in conception), but it eventually devolves into a morass of predictability and romantic kitsch, ending with the pronouncement that “love is not a trick; it’s real.”

         Moretz is at her usual fine skill in portraying a young woman with smarts, always ready to learn, and showing a nice range of emotional expression.  Her two co-stars, Robinson as Ben and Roe as Evan Walker, match her very well, and provide the opportunity to prove that females can be as strong and effective as males.  Further, the character of Ringer (Maika Monroe) is a sassy upstart who uses her brain and skill to figure out a situation and act decisively. 

      The portrayal of males and females is perhaps the only plus in The Fifth Wave.  Females are both nurturing/caring and skillful in fighting, and males are protective and strong while also giving females space to show what they can do. 

         Enrique Chediak’s cinematographic art comes through repeatedly, most strikingly when Cassie and her brother have climbed a tree to escape the tsunami.  He shows a bird’s eye view of them that quickly evolves into a palette of leaves, making the viewer wonder if they survived.

          While it’s not perhaps as original as desired, Director J. Blakeson has put together an interesting apocalyptic tale with talented actors.  I take a bit of a jaundiced eye toward it in its playing up the existence of a threat implying that everyone should be armed at all times.  Guns are highlighted so much I began to wonder if the NRA helped finance the movie. 

Gun advocates will love this movie; others, perhaps, not so much.

Grade:  D+           By Donna R. Copeland