Endless Love (2014 American film)

Endless Love
Theatrical release poster
Directed by	Shana Feste
Screenplay by	Shana Feste Joshua Safran
Produced by	Scott Stuber Pamela Abdy Josh Schwartz Stephanie Savage
Starring	Alex Pettyfer Gabriella Wilde
Cinematography	Andrew Dunn
Edited by	Maryann Brandon
Music by	Christophe Beck
Production companies	Bluegrass Films Fake Empire Productions
Distributed by	Universal Pictures
Release date	February 14, 2014 (2014-02-14)
Running time	104 minutes
Country	United States
Language	English
Budget	$20 million
Box office	$29,602,075

Endless Love is a 2014 American romantic drama film directed by Shana Feste and co-written by Feste with Joshua Safran. A remake of Franco Zeffirelli's 1981 film of same name and second adaptation of Scott Spencer's novel, the film stars an ensemble cast headed by Alex Pettyfer and Gabriella Wilde.

The film was released on February 14, 2014 by Universal Pictures in the US and UK, and on February 13, 2014 in Australia.

Plot

The movie opens with a scene from a high school graduation, class of 2014. Jade Butterfield (Gabriella Wilde), a shy but beautiful young woman, is graduating and will be attending Brown University in the fall. She stands alone after the ceremony, while everyone else laughs with friends and takes pictures together. Jade quietly rejoins her parents while reminiscing about her brother, Chris, who passed away from cancer. David Elliot (Alex Pettyfer) observes her from a distance. He has had a crush on her throughout all of high school, but never mustered the courage to speak to her.

Jade, her parents Hugh and Anne, and her brother Keith (Rhys Wakefield) stop at an upscale restaurant for lunch after the graduation. While exiting the car, Jade bumps into David, who works as a valet at the restaurant. David mentions how they were classmates and she asks him to sign her yearbook before going inside. Inside the restaurant, Hugh (Bruce Greenwood), who is a medical doctor, asks her what she would like as a graduation present. Jade asks for a party since she's never had the chance to socialize with her peers before. Her mother, Anne (Joely Richardson) thinks it’s a wonderful idea and while her father thinks it’s a rather odd request, agrees. On the way out of the restaurant, Jade invites David to her party. She and her family also observe David getting into a physical altercation with a snobby client who insults him. He punches him and, as a result, gets fired on the spot.

During her requested party, the room is full of her father’s wealthy, middle-aged friends and it is clear she is disappointed that none of her classmates have shown up. David soon arrives and Jade is happy to see him. Realizing her sadness that nobody from school attended, David explains that there is another graduation party taking place the same evening and that everyone is likely there. He takes out his phone and calls the police to makes a false noise complaint about the other party, effectively shutting it down. Soon, a large crowd of their former classmates begin to arrive at Jade’s house. Everyone begins to have a good time while Hugh is left slightly upset with Jade's classmates there. Jade and David sneak into a closet and share a kiss just as Hugh gathers everyone together to make a speech. He talks about how proud he is of Jade, however she is nowhere to be found. She sheepishly comes out of the closet followed by David, stunning everyone. Her father is annoyed, but continues with the toast. He thanks everyone for coming and ends his speech by asking them all to leave. David leaves after apologizing to Hugh, aware of his bad first impression. He makes it clear to him that he actually cares very much for Jade. During this, Jade secretly listens from afar inside the house, smiling at his words.

Jade races to her balcony as David begins to leave. She throws a paper plane down to him that says, “Wait until all the lights are off.” David waits in the pouring rain until being able to sneak back into the house. He walks into a room with a lit fireplace where Jade is waiting for him in a white negligee. They begin to kiss passionately and David's assures her that they don't have to do anything more, but Jade insists she wants to "feel this with him". They then have sex and it soon becomes clear that they are in love. The next day, Jade spends time with her father at the hospital who is grooming her to go into medical school. He asks her to stay and observe a surgery, but she tells him that she can’t. He is taken aback by her not following his wishes since she normally does. She meets David near a lake and they discuss a summer medical internship she has. She reveals that they only have about ten days left to spend together and he tells her that he doesn't care how much time they have left, he wants to enjoy them to the full. A montage shows them riding bicycles, running through fields and enjoying each other’s company with reckless abandon. David drops Jade home after their last evening together, but she tells him to ask her to stay instead of leaving. He does, and she agrees. When her father soon finds her unpacking and realizes her new plans, he knows it’s because of David and is furious.

The next morning, Jade finds her family packing and finds out her father has decided to take everyone to the lake house. Shortly after they arrive at the lake house, David unexpectedly shows up as well and reveals he was invited by Jade. Hugh is not pleased and tries insisting that he has to leave. Jade then makes a bold move, stating that David is her guest and is going to stay, impressing her mother and Keith who comment that she "just became a woman". When Hugh talks to Anne about Jade's new behavior and says she is being rebellious, Anne says that she is happy to finally see her daughter truly happy and experiencing life on her own. Hugh later apologizes for being rude and unwelcoming to David. That night, Jade, David, Keith and Keith’s girlfriend are outside playing with fireworks. David goes into the garage to get some more and instead sees Hugh in the garage kissing another woman. Stunned, he leaves quickly. The next morning, Hugh takes David out in a boat and threatens him into remaining quiet about the affair.

Jade and David go to a party where they are convinced by a friend to sneak into a local zoo. They do so and have a good time playing hide and seek, looking at various animals and riding the carousel. Their fun is cut short by the police where David allows himself to be caught to let the others escape. Jade begs her father to bail him out, but her father instead shows her a criminal record of David that he dug up on him, trying to convince her to leave him there. Jade is distraught her father has gone to such lengths to break them up and Hugh finally says he will bail him out if she will go for the internship. He bails David out of jail, but begins offending him on their way out by insulting his father. David tries controlling himself, but soon snaps and punches him - which is what Hugh wanted. He goes home to his family and tells them that David is violent, manipulative and cannot be trusted. Jade confronts David outside a café, desperate for an explanation. After an argument, David walks away as Jade accuses him of being a coward and not fighting for their relationship. She gets into her car and begins driving away. However, David soon runs after her, but she is slammed by another car.

At the hospital, Hugh takes David’s father aside and gives him a restraining order. He wants David to stay away from Jade, believing he is a bad influence on her. David’s father argues that they’re only kids who simply had an argument and that David shouldn't have his life ruined over it, but Hugh refuses to hear him. When Jade wakes up, having suffered only minor injuries, she wants to see David. She goes to his house, but his father reluctantly refuses to let her in since it would land his son in prison.

Jade soon leaves for Brown while David stays in town. They each try to move on with their lives, including seeing other people, but it is clear they are unhappy. Months soon go by and David runs into Anne in a bookstore. While having coffee together, she tells David that she admired him and his love for Jade and lets him know that Jade will be arriving for the holidays and what time he can see her. Hugh soon finds out David intends to see Jade and tries to stop him at the airport, only to be narrowly stopped by security. David races to the terminal where he soon sees Jade. After re-affirming their love for each other, he tells her he has two tickets and will take them anywhere in the world. He asks her if she’ll meet him that night to run away with him and she agrees.

That night, Hugh picks a fight with Keith for being in Chris’ room and touching his things. Keith and his girlfriend leave in anger with Anne following behind. Jade also has had enough and tells her father that they are adults and he can't control their lives anymore and that she chooses David. Seeing Jade's packed bags in her room, he realizes her plans. He gets a baseball bat and goes outside to see David waiting for her. He refuses to lose Jade to him, but Jade stops him and tells him that this is her own choice. Heartbroken over losing his family, he retreats inside in sadness as Jade begins to leave alongside David. Unknown to anyone, a candle has fallen over in Chris’ room during the fight and ignited a huge fire. Right as Jade and David are leaving, she sees that the house is on fire and screams for her father’s safety. He is inside collecting Chris’ things. David rushes inside to save Hugh, but is knocked down when trying to open a window and loses consciousness. Hugh sees him and puts down Chris’ belongings and picks up David. They both make it out and reconcile.

The next scene shows Jade and Anne standing at Chris’ grave. Jade’s parents have now separated and her mother tells her that they may or may not find their way back to each other one day, but that she is getting by. Hugh is waiting by and Jade is encouraged to be close with her father again. Hugh drops her off at the airport and he says that he is always there for her and she hugs him as she departs. David is nearby waiting for her and they take a flight to California, where Keith and his girlfriend get married. The movie ends with the four of them on the beach as Jade and David lay next to each other. Her voice over explains how her first love was everything all at once and is the once-in-a-lifetime kind of love that is worth fighting for.

Cast

• Alex Pettyfer as David Elliot
• Gabriella Wilde as Jade Butterfield
• Bruce Greenwood as Hugh Butterfield
• Joely Richardson as Anne Butterfield
• Robert Patrick as Harry Elliot
• Rhys Wakefield as Keith Butterfield
• Dayo Okeniyi as Mace
• Emma Rigby as Jenny
• Anna Enger as Sabine
• Patrick Johnson as Chris Butterfield
• Alexandra Bartee as Kelly
• Meghan Mitchell
• Sharon Conley as Dr. Edie Watanabe
• Jesse Malinowski
• Stephanie Northrup as Dawn Besser
• Matthew Withers as Miles
• Sonia Rose as Girl in Pool
• William Henry Milne as Boy in Pool

Production

Principal photography began in May 2013 in Georgia. Filming wrapped in July 2013. Scenes were shot in Fayette County, Georgia, Butts County, Georgia at Lake Jackson, and at the Atlanta Botanical Garden.

Release

The first trailer was released on December 23, 2013. On January 28, 2014, the film was given a PG-13 rating for "sexual content, brief partial nudity, some language, and teen partying."

Reception

Like the original, Endless Love has received overwhelmingly negative reviews from film critics. Criticism was mainly made towards the many liberties taken with the original source material. The film currently holds a 3.7/5 rating on Rotten Tomatoes based on 77 reviews with the consensus: "Blander than the original Endless Love and even less faithful to the source material, this remake is cliched and unintentionally silly." However,despite all the cliches this movie is a fine watch for a romantic audience.It has a 6.2/10 rating on imdb.

Soundtrack

Singer/songwriter Skylar Grey's cover of Robert Palmer's "Addicted to Love" was used for the trailer of the film. In addition, the song "Explosions" by Ellie Goulding was used in trailers adapted as television commercials.

Director Shana Feste had considered using the original film's iconic theme song in one scene but eventually decided against it.

External links

• Endless Love at IMDb
• Endless Love at Box Office Mojo
• Endless Love at Rotten Tomatoes
• Endless Love at Metacritic