Forev
directed by Molly Green & James Leffler
starring Noël Wells, Matt Mider
Sophie and Pete live next door to each other but it takes a mistaken fall through his front door for them to see the possibilities. You know they are right for each other, and they handily agree to marry before the first reel ends. They head off to pick up Pete’s sister Jess but get stuck in the desert somewhere around Needles, and there nothing to do but sort out the awkward details. Good thing Pete’s got a ring on him; you never know when it will come in handy.
We all fantasize the exact right person for us is just around the corner, and here’s cinematic proof. Sophie (Wells) and Pete (Mider) are both completely available, she’s a struggling actress and he’s the geeky tech support work-from-home guy. One night Sophie falls in the front door with an unfortunate hook up date, but she ditches him and next morning it’s Road Trip Time. They head over to Phoenix to recover Jess (Amanda Bauer) from her sorority house. Pete joked about getting married but Sophie wasn’t blocking, she picked up his theme and ran with it. Now the car is broken down and she needs to get back to L.A. for a commercial shoot, but Jesse disappears after a few too many Tequila Sunrises. Should Pete trust his sister, or chase his fiancé in a day?
Sure, this is a stock romantic comedy that follows the old rule of “get your characters in a tree and throw rocks at them” These rocks are more like wadded up newspaper balls, but despite the director’s propensity for “lying on the floor” camera angles and excessive use of hot dog symbolism you have to love all these people. Sophie is to too cute to be real and Pete has the big dopey grin of a nice guy who is might be reincarnated as a golden retriever. Jess is a bit sassy, but she’s the lemon juice that makes the sugar into lemonade in what might easily become a treacle sweet story. Adding a surrealist note is the incompetent auto mechanic and Jesse’s bearded animal bone wearing temporary boyfriend; they could easily be the stalker types in a horror film. But everything is happy here; this cast looks like it might turn into an Indie Pop band just for fun. Forev is an evergreen romantic comedy with lots and lots going for it, and a great date film after you tire of film festival documentaries. Take date – heck, take two dates. You never know what good thing might happen to you.
_This film is part of the 2014 Florida Film Festival running April 4 to 14 in Orlando Fl. Details, screening locations and times may be found at www.floridafilmfestival.com._
Forev: http://www.forevmovie.com
