With all due respect to Scott Spencer’s source novel, every aspect of Endless Love feels lifted from a pink diary with hearts drawn inside it – from the outrageously good-looking protagonists to the “villain” (a mean old dad who is mean). The most astounding thing about it is that adult minds are responsible for recreating the teen ennui so faithfully.
Jade (played by newcomer Gabriella Wilde) is the school’s beautiful recluse, cast into social exile after the death of her golden boy older brother four years earlier. On the day of her high school graduation she meets David (Magic Mike’s Alex Pettyfer), a charismatic mechanic’s son who has had his eye on bookworm Jade for a while. After an exciting incident involving a Maserati, Jade’s doe eyes are finally opened to the allure of the opposite sex. The pair fall for each other instantly and spend the summer making out at music festivals.
Like Baby and Johnny before them, Jade’s protective daddy takes an instant dislike to David and his workman’s sensibilities. Predictably, his underhanded attempts to separate them are met with further rebellion from an increasingly independent Jade.
True to its name, time spent watching Endless Love feels like an eternity. It is a 16 year-old girl’s fantasy perfectly transposed to the big screen, and in that way it fulfils its remit and will be seen though certain eyes as the perfect romantic drama. The dialogue is clunky and dipped in cheese, but the two lead faces on screen are distractingly radiant and as the Tumblr crowds will attest, sometimes you just want something nice to look at.
