My Review of Forev (2013 Film)

Forev is a film that was released more than a year ago, but for me, it recently came across my radar. I have been aware of, and a fan of Noel Wells since she was a cast member of Saturday Night Live for the 39th season. However I was not fully aware of her non-SNL work until recently. After finding out about this film, and then discovering that she was the lead character, I just had to watch it!

All things being considered, I feel like this was an all around good film. Not great, but not bad either. The story was good, and while introducing some original ideas and concepts, at its core I feel like it was a rather typical love story. Was it unique enough to keep me watching? Absolutely. But I could not help thinking about how I felt like I had seem much of it before, in one form or another. That is not, however, to say the story was bad. In fact, I found it quite charming, especially when combined with the acting, which I will get to in a moment.

The main concept is that a guy and a girl find themselves engaged after only a few hours as they embark on a road trip through Arizona. I will not go into detail here, both to avoid spoilers and to preserve the overall story for those of you who decide to watch the film after reading this, and also to prevent those of you who have already seen it from becoming bored or disinterested. Suffice it to say that the story was engaging enough to keep me interested, but was also generic enough that I saw just about every turn coming, and clearly at that.

Now for either the best or worst part, depending on your own taste; the acting. I found it charming and, for lack of a better word, "real," however I could also see it coming across as either fake or forced, as there were certain characters who were a little hard to believe.

That being said, I found the interaction between Sophie and Pete to be charming, believable and, at times, extremely funny. I think that all three leads, Noel Wells, Matt Mider, and Amanda Bauer all did fantastic jobs, and I cannot think of a better casting selection for this film, as all three worked so well together on screen, and their characters were believable and endearing.

On a more technical note, I think the editing, cinematography and production design were spot on. I have lived in Arizona, and I can appreciate the production team creating the look and feel of that area of the world. Granted, the likely filmed much of it on location in such areas as these, but still, well done. I also enjoyed the editing style and the overall atmosphere of the film. At times a tad loos in the editing, but for the film it worked, as a faster cut would have come across much more urgent than the film was.

And, it's an independent feature, which for me is a bonus. I find myself more and more enjoying films made independently of a major studio, and while such films can be a tad difficult to get your hands on, they are often well worth it, as in my experience, independent films are often the incubators for major changes and developments in the industry as a whole, and as such deserve and need our support so that filmmakers can continue to make advancements in an industry that is currently so focused on solely making money.

So what is the verdict on the film? That depends on you. For me, I liked it a lot. While there were flaws, such as a somewhat generic love story and a few missed opportunities for experimenting a little more, the film, as a whole, worked well, and told a story well, which is really all one can ask of a movie.

Was it the best film ever, no. It was a good attempt at a new approach to a love story that just fell a little short. I do recommend it, however, as a good film that tells a good story, with good acting and good production design and execution. Get my general feel for the film yet? Yah, it was good. Simple as that.

At the end of the day, all one can really ask of a film is that it tells a story in an entertaining and engaging way, and Forev does just that. It is an overall well made film that kept me watching throughout, even if I could often tell what was about to happen.

The verdict?
Pretty damn good / Recommend Heartily

7 out of 10