Never Forever (2007)

Best movie of this year hands down!

As Good As It Gets

The thing I enjoyed most about the film is the fact that it doesn't shy away from being a super-sized-cliche;

It's simply great fun, a winsome film and an occasionally over-the-top luxury fantasy that never flags.

(Spoilers !!) This is an annoying film.. as it insults the intelligence of its' audience for the sake of a storyline. As no intelligent individual who is committed to, and in love with their partner would enter into such a secretive, illicit, sexual affair in order to produce a child. They simply would do what tens of thousands of other couples do, and sign on to an in-vitro program. And from there this irrational story goes even further down the rabbit hole, when they abandon their spouse because the infidelity (and a previously undisclosed abortion) is uncovered, and the spouse (not surprisingly) refuses to enter into such a situation. The whole mess ends with her smiling, happily frolicking somewhere on a beach (maybe outside the country?) with her deported immigrant lover's kid.. and she is once again pregnant with another of his children. The ex left well behind, for no reason other than he shoots blanks..and she wanted a baby not from a tube, but the hot & steamy fashion. Usually like Farmiga a lot.. she was not bad here, but should have taken a pass on this contrived B- time waster.

I set out to enjoy this movie, hoping for something that would take the best elements of movies such as Unfaithful and The Rabbit Hole and mix them with some independent flair and lesser known, but capable actors.The problem with this film is that there is one actor who is convincing... Farmiga. What's she manages to convince a pragmatic viewer of is another matter for later in this review. The two male main characters do workmanlike, unremarkable jobs of portraying relatively stereotyped characters, that of the depressed, middle aged man who can't have everything he wanted in life and a naive 20 year old kid who falls in 'love' because he receives the one thing guaranteed to cause a 20 year old to throw caution and logic to the wind. Never mind that it's delivered with more than a nod to the old saw "Love like you're being paid."Moving on to Farmiga, I think it's helpful to examine the absurdity of the plot. She's obviously almost as clinically depressed as her husband. Any of these ring a bell:"feelings of guilt, worthlessness, and/or helplessness" "persistent sad, anxious, or "empty" feelings"I hope so, because those, and five other clinical symptoms are displayed in endless scenes of hand wringing, melodramatic expressions of pain, listlessly staring at walls while in a near fetal position, conversing as if it takes EVERY... LAST... BIT... of energy... Is this really good acting?The plot is also beyond silly. She does all this for her husband who she 'loves'. She achieves what she has stated is her only desire and he responds with warmth and spark that had been utterly lacking before. Of course, her response to this is to dream of dirty sex in a filthy tenement with a kid who's actual dialogue has mainly consisted of publicly implying, quite crudely, that she's a confused tramp who needs 'what he has', and isn't referring to the procreation aspects of their transactional trysts.If her mooning about seems like good acting, then I guess the above weirdness seems like a love story destined to break through barriers and walls that most could not. I was not terribly moved by this movie, although it was interesting watching it all play out. Farmiga is better when her talents are focused on helping a better movie play out logically.

Watching this movie was a breathtaking experience to me. From the very first scene, it grabbed my attention, and I became more and more involved with the story of this beautiful and desperate woman, Sophie Lee.The movie touches so many important issues such as interracial marriage, faith and religion, class determined by economic factors, and illegal immigrant. Yet those issues are so well blended without distracting the audience' attention from the main story.The main story is purely simple. It's a woman's struggle to keep a man she loves happy. But in the end, she realizes that she has to pursue her own happiness.It's the story of my own life. It's the story of so many women that I know. It's also the story of so many sons and daughters, wives and husbands, and fathers and mothers. That's why this movie touches the very core of my heart - anybody's heart.The visual elements are very powerful. Extremely shallow focus are used in many scenes, isolating the characters from the background and sometimes from each other. However camera is never in the way of story telling.The most notable element of the movie is, needless to say, the outstanding performances by Vera Farmiga, Jung-Woo Ha and David McInnis. Especially I was overwhelmed by the powerful screen presence of Vera's delicate feature. She can be funny, sexy and innocent without even trying. She becomes the woman I'd love to be friends with. She becomes the lover I'd cherish and hold in my arms, and the mother I'd look up to. She arouses so many emotions within me that through her I face my own womanhood and independence.After watching the movie, I thought makers of "Unfaithful" should watch this movie to learn that an affair can have such depth, profundity and purity...

BE WARNED, the plot is revealed ahead, partially.It's a poetic look at a woman's desperate struggle to have a child. In order to please her successful Asian American husband, this blonde-haired, blue-eyed Caucasian woman takes whatever means necessary in order to conceive a child, even if it means sleeping with another man. It's a beautiful looking film that breaks traditional conventions. The movie gives a rare and unique look at what happens in a relationship between an Asian man and a white woman. The camera seamlessly moves back and forth following the characters' faces so that it feels like we're worrying along with them. The story dares to bring sexuality back to Asian men and deserves to be seen.