Endless Love

Franco Zeffirelli's 1981 Endless Love, an overheated teen soaper starring Brooke Shields and Martin Hewitt, is easily the least regarded of the three 1980s movies whose remakes were released into theaters last weekend. Directed by Shana Feste (Country Strong), Endless Love feels like a better-than-average episode of a CW drama that should have been canceled years ago, but it's also watchable page-turning trash with a few solid performances. British actors Alex Pettyfer and Gabriella Wilde play the stereotypical “sweet bad boy” and “rich good girl,” and while both performers come off as callow and unworldly, with the coltishly beautiful Wilde it feels more like an actor's choice. The reliably awful Pettyfer just lacks charisma and screen presence, and he practically distills into vapor any time he is forced to share the screen with a crafty veteran like Bruce Greenwood or Robert Patrick.