Blu-ray review: Endless Love (2014)

Alex Pettyfer and Gabriella Wilde in Endless Love

I never reviewed Endless Love (2014) here because I saw it with a few friends after it was released, at the AMC John R (fantastic seats!), at a pretty late showing, I think maybe 10pm. I was surprised by how much I liked it, and so when the chance came up to review the Blu-ray, I didn't hesitate to email back.

Official synopsis, from Amazon: When beautiful Jade (Gabriella Wilde) meets charismatic David (Alex Pettyfer), her sheltered world of privilege is turned upside down as the pair’s instant desire sparks a reckless summer love affair. While Jade leaves behind her inhibitions and innocence as she falls for David, he works to prove himself worthy of her love. But when David’s mysterious past and Jade’s overprotective father threaten to tear them apart, their romance will be put to the ultimate test.

This movie provides an interesting "chicken and the egg scenario." It reminds me a LOT of The Notebook, from 2004, so normally I would say it pulled inspiration from that movie; however, it's also a remake of a film of the same name, from 1981, starring Brooke Shields. I'm not sure how similar the remake is to this one, but if it's similar, then it's possible The Notebook actually pulled inspiration from Endless Love, rather than the other way around.

Either way, you have a "rich girl, poor boy" scenario here - Jade's family has a lot of money, and she'll be attending Brown University in the fall, whereas David, although smart, didn't apply to college, choosing instead to work as a mechanic at his dad's auto shop. Jade's father (Bruce Greenwood) isn't happy with them being together, and tries to keep them apart as much as possible, even going as far to file a restraining order against him after Jade gets in a car accident.

The Blu-ray has some cool special features, including an extended ending (although only a minute or so more), deleted/extended/alternative scenes, and a bonus feature called "The Making of Endless Love," which was pretty interesting to watch; you learn a lot about how the cast and writers got together for the movie, and there are interviews with some people as well.

I'd give the movie a Yes review and 3.5 out of 5 stars. It might even be a 4 star movie, but there are definitely some cliches throughout. It's definitely more well-made than most of the teen romances you see at the theater, though, and so I would recommend Endless Love if you like the genre.

Endless Love is currently out on Blu-ray and DVD, and is rated PG-13 with a runtime of 104 minutes.

*Disclosure: I received Endless Love on Blu-ray to facilitate this review. The opinions expressed here, however, are my own.

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