1984 FASHION STYLES

Waiting for Forever

WILL, THE QUIRKY STREET PERFORMER WITH A FREE SPIRIT AND A HEART OF PURE GOLD. THE OBJECT OF WILL'S LIFELONG AFFECTION IS EMMA,THE BEAUTIFUL YOUNG ACTRESS WHOM HE HAS NEVER STOPPED LOVING SINCE THEY WERE CHILDHOOD SWEETHEARTS. BUT WHEN THEY REUNITE, AND WILL GETS SWEPT UP IN EMMA'S COMPLICATED PAST?

Waiting for Forever is a film that's unlikely to elicit many neutral opinions; chances are you'll find it either cute 'n' quirky or cloying and annoying. At the center of this 2010 rom-com is the relationship between Will Donner (Tom Sturridge) and Emma Twist (Rachel Bilson). Friends since childhood, when she provided him with comfort and companionship following the traumatic death of his parents in a train crash, they've long since gone their separate ways--or so she thinks. Turns out that while Emma has been pursuing a career as an actress, Will has turned into a kind of peripatetic Peter Pan, only without the flying chops. A jobless (he earns spare change as a street juggler) dreamer and hopeless romantic who steadfastly refuses to engage with life's quotidian realities, he's been following Emma from place to place, a sort of benign stalker who has never had the nerve to approach or talk to her, preferring to hang back and worship her from afar. That changes when Emma returns to their Pennsylvania hometown, where her father (the reliable Richard Jenkins) is seriously ill and her ditzy mom (Bythe Danner) needs support. Encouraged by his well-adjusted banker brother (Scott Mechlowicz) and other friends, Will at last approaches her and confesses all. Complications ensue--including a credibility-defying, out-of-nowhere subplot involving Emma's L.A. boyfriend and an accidental homicide--but they do little to keep this tale from ending exactly as we expect it to. The only question involves whether you'll see "Willie" as a charming lost puppy who's never gotten over his parents' death and could use a hug, or as an infuriating ne'er-do-well who needs some sense slapped into him. The indie nu-folk music on the soundtrack leaves little doubt about where director James Keach and writer Steve Adams's sentiments lie. --Sam Graham

raios de sol + durex + brushes fofos + rachel bilson *-*

Rachel Bilson photo I found online and enhanced.

"The Last Kiss" is a hip romantic comedy about life, love, infidelity, forgiveness, marriage, friendship… and coming to grips with turning 30.

A remake of the Italian film L'Ultimo Bacio, The Last Kiss was largely ignored in theaters despite its Gen-X themes and appeal of star Zach Braff (Scrubs), who last made a splash in theaters with his similar twentysomething angst film Garden State. A drama about midlife crises (mostly for people approaching 30, that is), director Tony Goldwyn (A Walk on the Moon) has assembled a top-notch cast, but there's not enough likeability in the characters to care. Architect Michael (Zach Braff) is a commitmentphobe who wanders into a flirtation with coed Kim (Rachel Bilson) because he's gun-shy about settling down with his perfect girlfriend Jenna (Jacinda Barrett), who's expecting his child. His fellow pals face their own romantic crossroads; one (Michael Weston) desires to settle down with a woman who doesn't love him back; another (Eric Christian Olsen) can't find someone who just wants a meaningless fling like him; and the third (Casey Affleck), ponders leaving his weary wife who's constantly berating his shortcomings as a father. Most depressing is Jenna's mother (Blythe Danner), who's tired of feeling neglected by her stoic husband (Tom Wilkinson). Danner and Wilkinson are compelling as longtime marrieds who've lost their spark, but Braff's character is wholly unlikeable, even aside from his indiscretions. The bright spot is Bilson, in her first movie role, utterly adorable as the sexy college student who's got more parts vulnerability and sass than any stuck in the Other Woman role. There's some fine acting in The Last Kiss, but not enough character development to care about anything they're going through.
The DVD includes a commentary featuring cast members Braff, Barrett, Olsen, Bilson, and director Goldwyn, who all mainly hoot during Olsen's sex scenes and ogle Bilson's seductive dancing. Braff and Goldwyn also imitate Bilson's high-pitched speedchatter throughout, while Barrett educates the cast on the similarities between "the dingo ate my baby" and the O.J. Simpson case (don't ask). It's all the more entertaining compared to a separate commentary track with just Goldwyn and Braff, who mostly drones about the music he picked for the film (Remy Zero, Snow Patrol, Aimee Mann) and raves about the minimalist score, done by singer Michael Penn. And oh, they ogle Bilson's dancing in this one too. -- Ellen A. Kim

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