Forever Love - DVD

Movie: Most cinema romances tell of the slow emergence of a love. People who are complete opposites at the beginning find each other, a forbidden romance overcomes all odds, or a couple destined for each other finally finds each other through complicated means. Forever Love takes a slightly different path. Early in the film, Paige (Rachel McAdams) and Leo (Channing Tatum) have already found each other and discovered the love of their lives. They want to spend the rest of their lives together and get married. Actually, nothing stands in the way of the great happiness. But fate has devised a particularly difficult test for the lovers.

Because a car accident causes Paige to lose all memory of her Leo. Her last memories belong to her former fiancé Jeremy (Scott Speedman), who still suffers from the fact that Paige once left him. While her parents (Sam Neill & Jessica Lange), with whom she had had no contact in recent years, are happy to have their old Paige, the well-behaved law student, back and Jeremy also harbors hopes for a second chance, Leo must try with all his might to make the love of his life fall in love with him all over again. After all, what belongs together must come together a second time?

Inspired by a true story, Michael Sucsy, director of the award-winning TV movie Grey Gardens, has staged cinema kitsch of the finest kind. Filled with plenty of clichés common to the genre and infused with a certain predictability, Forever Love never seems to be shy of trying to manipulate its audience's tear ducts. Whether it's the languorous glances Paige and Leo give each other, the matching soundtrack, or the atmospheric shots of Chicago, these are all stimulators designed to help the already very touching story gain even more emotional intensity.

Sure, the whole thing is extremely cheesy and also, although a true story served as inspiration, nothing more than a typical overdone Hollywood fairy tale. So if you're looking for deep and sophisticated auteur cinema, this is completely out of place. But is that really a bad thing? No, because Forever Love is made for a very specific target audience that expects from a film like this exactly what the romance delivers with aplomb: attractive, thoroughly charming leads, a whole lot of romance, and a story infused with both languorous beauty and sadness that even a Bruce Darnell wouldn't ask for more drama.

So Forever Love is nothing more, but also nothing less, than a beautiful piece of romantic kitsch cinema that doesn't even try to pretend to be something else and that offers all those viewers who like to sob and pine unrestrainedly at movies, two beautiful hours. What more could you want? Worth seeing!

Picture + Sound: Good representation of details, a pleasant picture depth, strong colors and an overall good image sharpness leave actually no reason for complaint in the visual realization. The audio, as is usual with romantic comedies, is primarily dominated by dialogue and the soundtrack. The surround channels are rarely called upon, but for the genre the whole thing is perfectly adequate. Good!

Extras: Besides a not uninteresting but somewhat dry audio commentary by director Michael Suscy (can optionally be watched with German subtitles), the DVD only has four dropped scenes (approx. 6 min.) and a more or less amusing gag reel (approx. 3 min.) to offer. This is a bit weak overall.

Conclusion: Forever Love is unrestrained romance kitsch that comes across as dramaturgically unoriginal, but thanks to the likable actors and the touching story it offers lovers of the genre enough material to pine for. The DVD can not score with great bonus material, but who likes it corny, not bothered by classic clichés, which can access here in any case confidently. Recommendable

An article by Frankfurt-Tipp