Love Everlasting

Some of the scenes and acting were very amateurish (like the opening one), and others were very well done. Some had me rolling my eyes, and others had me wiping away tears. Overall, I found it engaging and enjoyed the relationships portrayed. If you can overlook the negatives, I think most would find it a satisfying experience.

What happens when 18 year old world famous platinum blond lanky super model Lucky Blue Smith plays a high school senior in a small high school in rural Utah? You get Love Everlasting. Smith plays Bridger who arrives in town penniless with his mother Helen (Emily Proctor) on the run from Missouri escaping an abusive boyfriend and they are taken in by local mechanic Will (Shawn Evans) who is a widower with a shy and reclusive daughter Clover (Christie Burke) the same age as Bridger. Turns out Clover's face was damaged in a gun accident and despite plastic surgeries, she feels ashamed and embarrassed by her scar and she is bullied at school. Turns out similar bullies target Bridger and Clover and they help each other out then fall for each other. So far this is pretty standard coming of age teen romance. Bridger loves Clover in spite of the scar and Clover doesn't judge Bridger and his mom for their poverty and circumstance. Turns out Bridger had a heart transplant as a child and suffers periodic rejection issues if he misses medications. The plot moves into real fantasy territory as Clover and Bridger marry right after graduation with the blessing of both parents, her Dad and his Mom seem to be an item and their honeymoon has the parents tagging along behind as they travel to the ocean in California, a life long dream of Bridger's growing up in Missouri. On the morning after their first night as a couple, Clover finds Bridger dead on the beach and that's the end of the movie. Like I say, not your usual teen romance. The only reason why this weak and oddball story line deserves a 6 is because most of the acting is not too bad - not Oscar winning but a solid B+ including Lucky who does a bit more than give smoldering model looks and appear glamorous regardless of what he wears.

I love a classic teen, cliche, romance flick. But this was a hot mess. The idea was decent enough even while being done before and predictable, but the way it all unfolded was not good. The script was poor, chemistry between all the characters was lacking. Very stereotypical characters such as the friendzoned best friend, the bully, the teacher, etc. But the way these were portrayed was very cringy-especially the friend, Albert. He was supposed to be the awkward nerd, which is fine, but his lines and the acting of them fell flat and out of place. A lot of weird almost awkward silences or pauses in some scenes. The bully character Bo was just over the top silly. And why was nothing really done about him? Until the end I guess. But way overdue considering he was bullying a girl that HE shot in the face. And the teacher knew, but didn't really do much. Very weird. Also-Clover was a pretty girl and her scar was barely noticeable and certainly didn't make her ugly. Bridger was clearly better looking than Bo and the other boys in the school, so in reality neither of these kids would be the subject of bullying. The characters just weren't fleshed out enough. No real depth when there could have been. The relationship wasn't believable. And I am OK with other similar stories, even if they are predictable, but I need a reason to care and cheer for the people to get together. Sort of went in an over dramatic Nicholas Sparks direction at the end and it was unnecessary. Seemed like they didn't know where they wanted the story to end. They could have left out the coma garbage if they were going to have him be fine only to die two seconds later. Just a mess when it had a decent plot to work with.