Waiting for Forever (Blu-ray)
Kristy Sturdivant
June 11th, 2011
Will Donner (Tom Sturridge) has been in love with Emma Twist since he was 10 years-old and they hung out together in her treehouse. After the tragic death of his parents, Will holds on to this love and in an effort to be closer to Emma he follows her around the country, living in the same city in hopes of catching a glimpse of her each day. However, Emma is a young actress who is dealing with a broken relationship along with an ailing father, oh and she doesn’t realize that Will is even in love with her.
If this plot sounds somewhat interesting and something you may want to curl up with then maybe it’s because that little synopsis was sugarcoated. What Hollywood is trying to give us is a romantic film that touches the heart with sweetness, but ends up being a little sad and a little creepy. There are too many little subplots and none of the characters are developed enough for us to really care about them (except for Will, but even his development was lacking). Everything seems a little forced and to be honest Rachel Bilson didn’t even seem terribly interested in her performance.
Although Sturridge did an alright job portraying Will Donner, the character came off as weak, sad and stalkerish. When Will talks to his parents (which looks like he’s talking to himself) it is a little more than strange and just reveals that this poor guy grew up not being able to really accept the fact that his parents are gone. Then to follow a girl, that he hung out with when he was in elementary school, all around the country without ever intentionally trying contact her just comes off as extremely creepy and pathetic. The director obviously wanted us to sympathize with Will and his tough situation, but it just wasn’t realistic. If anything Will’s brother was the most realistic character as he thought his brother was a little off mentally and wanted him to stop pining for this girl and get on with his life.
Aside from the flawed character of Will, there was the alternate story of Emma, her dying father (played by Richard Jenkins), her grieving mother (Blythe Danner) and her boyfriend who kills the guy she cheated on him with, but ends up blaming on Will. Yes, that really happened and completely took away from the story of this lovesick guy who stalks this girl. To have all this happen and then end the film with a happy Hollywood ending was just unsatisfying and unrealistic.
WATING FOR FOREVER may resonate with hardcore romantics, but it did absolutely nothing for me. I’m still stunned that Emma would even consider being with Will when she learned that her 10 year-old buddy had been following her around for about fifteen years. This may not bother some people but I find it so creepy. If this situation was to ever happen in real life I’m pretty sure a restraining order would be issued immediately.
BLU-RAY REVIEW
Video (Widescreen 1.85:1): This is a fine transfer, which is surprising given the low budget and the lack of marketing the film received. But it’s also a brightly colored film, which came through nicely on the Blu-ray.
Audio (5.1 DTS-HD): Everything sounded fine.
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