Customer Reviews

Forever Mine [PAL/REGION 2 DVD. Import-Spain]

5 star:		(7)
4 star:		(7)
3 star:		(8)
2 star:		(4)
1 star:		(3)

 

 

Unfulfilled beautiful wife of powerful rich man falls for a passionate but poor cabana boy at a luxury resort hotel. Jealous husband finds out about affair, ultimately choosing a violent conclusion to the drama. A "road well travelled" movie that is often nice to look at (especially Gretchen Mol) but ultimately fails with a strong sense of having "been there before". Ray Liotta as the jealous husband effectively sleepwalks through his role - effective because he's a natural at playing the "prick." Gretchen Mol is convincing as the beautiful wife torn between passion and comfort as long as she doesn't speak. Joseph Fiennes is actually quite effective and believable as the obsessively romantic cabana boy but does not quite succeed in making the transition to powerful gangster during the second half of the film. FOREVER MINE begins with a quote from Philosopher critic Walter Pater, "It is the addition of strangeness to beauty that constitutes the romantic character in art." Fiennes as the cabana boy seems to emulate Pater's philosophical reverence for "the moment" as the ultimate truth, and the film is most effective in this realm. When director Schrader changes direction midway, from picturesque romantic drama to revenge suspense, the film looses its magic and "the moment" is lost.

I have felt that Paul Schrader is one of those artsy directors who critics love, but his movies rarely approach classic status, with the exception of "Taxi Driver." In FOREVER MINE, which is indeed reminiscent of oldies like BACK STREET or MADAME X, Joseph Fiennes plays a cabana man, a beach boy, who finds himself madly in love with the lovely Gretchen Mol. His reason for falling in love so quickly extends from seeing her come out of the ocean in a white bathing suit (Bo Derek in 10?). Mol, of course, is recently married to her boss, the slimy Ray Liotta. Their steamy affair sparks the first half of the movie, and then we flash forward about 14 years and we meet Fiennes again on an airplane, a new identity, heading for New York. He wants revenge on Liotta, who after Mol confesses of her affair, had Fiennes killed, or so he thought.
This movie is filmed nicely and Mol does a job worthy of Lana Turner or Susan Hayward, but Fiennes is less passionate than a John Gavin, and Liotta is just wasted in a poorly written role. That's the main problem with this movie---for a passionate film, it has no passion or soul. How can we really care about Fiennes or even Mol, for that matter? He is more in lust, and she is dumb enough to stay with Liotta, even after knowing what he did to Fiennes.
FOREVER MINE is a soap opera for sure, but it doesn't have a lot of bubbles.

Ok Ok, so from the other reviews, I understand what they mean.
Forever Mine is not the best movie in the world, but I think the sexy and always breathtaking Joseph Finnes and wonderful Gretchen Mol add something special to this love story.

It's kind of a love/hate relationship. I love the section when they first fall in love complimented by an awersome sex scene with a naked Joseph Fiennes. The second half of the film is still good, but does fall short of being one of those films where it is all wonderful, and you know you have found a gem of a film.
But all the same I keep on returning to watch the film.

The music, the lighting, the chemistry... I taped it when it was on TV, but will buy it when it is finally available on DVD. I'm usually a skeptical movie-watcher, and there are some lines here that others will call cheesy, but I think these superb actors make them believable. At one point, Ray Liotta says to Joseph Fiennes' over-the-top romantic character: "What is this gibberish? Nobody talks like this!" As a viewer, I was thinking the same thing, but believing in Fiennes' character nonetheless, and that scene made the character even more believable.

Gretchen Mol is lovely. The scene where she reads "Madame Bovary" to the elderly is so poignant...it's a shame this movie's distribution fell apart, because she deserved to be seen in this.

This is one of those movies I find myself watching again. Someone on salon.com did a great review of it...still available if you do a search for "salon" "forever mine".

I watched Forever Mine last night and thought it was a pretty decent essay of an extramarital affair. We begin in the 1970's where Alan (Fiennes) is working at a swank hotel as a cabana boy. When he sees Ella, played by Mol, he falls instantly in love with her. The problem is she's married to a lowlife businessman (Ray Liotta, in full scumbag mode). They begin an affair which results in Alan getting disfigured from Liotta's goons and left for dead. Now it's 1987 and Alan is returning for revenge.

The dialogue is very cliche heavy, with dreamy declarations of love between Ella and Alan. But I thought that Fiennes and Mol were believable as the doomed duo. Liotta has got to stop playing the heavy. After seeing Heartbreakers and Blow, I know he's an amazing actor who can do so much more.

Alan fell in love with Ella the first time he saw her face and I fell in love with this movie. OK so it may be a little hokie, the dialogue a little lame and the story a little far fetched, I still think it was a beautiful premise. A girl can dream can't she. Come on now,it's a harmless fantasy. I first saw it in June 2007,and I think at this point in time it's my favorite movie. And Conner Reeves' rendition of "The First Time Ever I Saw Your Face" knocked my socks off, he definitely gives Roberta Flack a run for her money! Beautiful soulful voice, I looked him up (I was not familiar with him prior to) I have searched high and low for the soundtrack to no avail. The song is played during the closing credit. If you're familiar with the song lyrics it's easy to see how it works with the script in the end; "the first time ever I saw your face', "the first time ever I kissed your mouth", and "the first time ever I lay with you". Like I said farfetched maybe but a beautiful concept. I found the DVD on amazon.com shortly after I saw it on ON DEMAND in 2007, LUCKY ME! I also searched "within" youtube and found the same Conner Reeves' version of the song from the movie, I stored it in my "favorites", love it, love it!

Director Paul Schrader, known as writer too (of "Taxi Driver" and others), may not be everyone's favorite, and you are not impressed with his name any more, but still his style is unique in reminding me of those soapy, but engaging melodramas made in Hollywood in the 1950s.

Look at this story: Joseph Fiennes plays a towel boy (with a Spanish accent) at the beach of Miami, where he meets a newly-wed, but neglected wife (and Catholic) Gretchen Mol. Her husband Ray Liotta is dealing some (shady) business, and while he is away from the hotel, Fiennes and Mol fall in love with each other. Soon, however, sense of guilt compels her to confess the affair, and the enraged husband hires men to do what you know already when the film gets started.

Well, that's just a beginning. The director makes Fiennes come back years later, under heavy disguise of beard and another hairstyle and ... but wait! this is the most tricky part of the film. A British Fiennes, previously playing none other than the Bard, William Shakespeare, appears as a Hispanic American, and then he undergoes a physical transformation ... you really need a strong will to suspend the disbelief. But when you get over that part, and forget the fact that Liotta is typecast as a lout again, you will be entertained pretty much.

The fact is the story is not important. The obsession of the characters is playing the main part, and their acting is not bad, so the ride is quite agreeable, though predictable. Perhaps it is Gretchen Mol that attracts the eyes of the audience, male ones in particular. She is good as a wife torn between the love and the guilt.

As he always does, Paul Schrader sees the world from a different viewpoint, with our ordinary characteristics removed, and not-so-normal aspects exaggerated. The gorgeous seaside hotel of the opening scene looks somehow different, or bizzare perhaps (with the score of Angelo Padalamenti, famous for David Lynch films), and the characaters speak often corny dialogues as if they know they belong to those soap opera world. But that may be exactly the point.

At night I will flip through the channels and set the
TV timer for 30 minutes because I know I will fall asleep. When I found this movie, I set the timer and then cancelled it. I watched it all the way through. It wasn't over until 2:30 and I knew I had to go to work the next morning but couldn't quit watching it. I enjoyed this movie very much even though I didn't care too much for the end.

When I was thinking about ordering this movie on DVD I somehow doubted ist quality since "Forever Mine" was never released theatrically in the USA. But after reading several reports about it I kinda liked the storyline although it's nothing special: man and woman fall in love with each other, sadly she's married so they break up, he follows her, the husband get's angry and attempts to kill his rival. Another reason for me to buy this movie was the fact that the cast includes Ray Liotta, who's definitely one of the most talented and underrated actors in recent movie history.

"Forever Mine" starts extremely well (though I didn't like the opening credits) with beautiful locations and elegant direction but sadly Paul Schrader reduces the pace in the middle of the movie. For this reason you may need some patience to sit through this section. Another weakness is Joseph Fieness' accent. In my opinion it's simply too over the top and appears to be exaggerated and artificial. Don't get me wrong: I'm just an average German who learned English at school, maybe I'm wrong about this (please correct me if you think so) but his strange accent (at some points) almost ruined the movie for me. Still Fiennes' performance is quite OK (as long as you don't think about the accent) but he doesn't stand achance against beautiful and sexy Gretchen Mol (sadly her haircut looks awful in "Forever Mine") and especially Ray Liotta who's terrific in his usual bad guy role.

Thus "Forever Mine" is a nicely shot and well-acted movie though its only two weaknesses (slow moving center section, Fiennes' strange accent) might be crucial for some people.

Can it get anymore passionate than Joseph Fiennes? I don't think so. Interesting plot and believeable characters abound this intense romance with Gretchen Mole. Great twisty climax although the ending kinda left me bewildered. Dark and deep at points, but its worth it to see Joe in cabana shorts and shirt. Fun, fun, fun.