Such a frustrating disappointment

Sorry, this movie sucks

Fun premise, good actors, bad writing. This film seemed to have potential at the beginning but it quickly devolves into a trite action film. Ultimately it's very boring.

This is a small, humorous movie in some ways, but it has a huge heart. What a nice experience.

I wantcha to know I have limited my mini-reviews to Netflix but I'm making an exception for this because I want non-Netflix people to see it too. Never Forever is a conundrum. On the one hand, really melodramatic, improbable and predictable at the same time. And yet it manifests --I would even say embodies-- a sort of filmic courage that is rare indeed.The sheer loonyness of it all somehow seems to contribute to its real strength. Perhaps it is art defying rationality. Parse it, and it more or less falls apart. But if you let it hit you, you're likely to find it memorable. The confident tone suggests to me that director Gina Kim is on the road to formidable.

NEVER FOREVER is a well-developed, well-written and well-directed film by Gina Kim, and with an actress with the stature of Vera Farmiga in the difficult lead role, it is frustrating to see that this fine film didn't last on theater screens. But as with many of the other treasurable small independent films, this one feels even better in the privacy of the home - the small screen somehow allows the powerful emotions of the story to be more focused. Sophie (Vera Farmiga) is the beautiful Caucasian wife of wealthy and respected Korean Andrew (David Lee McInnis) and the couple seem to have it all - looks, a close-knit family, beautiful home, etc. - but there is an underlying tension: Sophie and Andrew have been unable to conceive and bear a child, a fact that troubles Andrew's very orthodox Christian family and profoundly affects Andrew's sense of worth. Though the couple has sought professional assistance, their marriage remains barren. Andrew's fragile stance results in a suicide attempt and in trying to correct the cause of this tragedy, Sophie decides she will attempt to conceive from a donor. Because both members of a couple must consent to artificial insemination, Sophie's plan is thwarted except for one aspect: visiting the clinic she has selected is a young Korean man named Jihah (Jung-woo Ha) who is attempting to be a sperm donor but is rejected because he is an illegal immigrant. Overhearing this exchange, Sophie follows Jihah and finally discovers where he lives. She approaches him with a business deal - she will pay him $300. for each session and when she becomes pregnant she will pay him $30,000. Jihah is shy at first, but he is working in a meat packing plant and dry cleaners trying to save enough money to bring his girlfriend from Korea to the USA. Desperate for money Jihah consents and Sophie begins her visits to him when her cycle is conducive to conception. The relationship is one of quick polite encounters, careful to avoid interpersonal factors that might make either partner uncomfortable. But a sense of interdependence evolves, and when Sophie achieves pregnancy, the couple decides to part ways. Sophie's pregnancy at first overjoys Andrew and his family and the couple's future looks bright. But both Sophie and Jihah are unable to dismiss the intimacy of the relationship they have developed, Andrew discovers Sophie's adventure, and the marriage falls apart while Jihah informs his girlfriend in Korea that he will never be able to bring her to America. At this vulnerable point the film simply ends - some years later Sophie is at the beach with her son and is again very pregnant and the viewer is left to decide the resolution. Vera Farmiga is even more beautiful in this role than her many other roles and never for a moment loses out empathy and understanding of the decisions she makes. Both of the men are strong as are the various actors who flesh out the film. This is a tough topic to relate, but writer/director Gina Kim allows the acts of love to be the memorable echo the film leaves behind. Grady Harp

I am Korean working as a writer/director in America. The director studied in the same film school but I never met her. That was the only interest in this film.I always didn't liked Vera Farmiga. I thought that her acting is awful since she feels so much about her look when she is acting. I never saw her getting into her character truly.But in this film she was pretty good. At the beginning,she was not so good as usual. But as time goes by, I felt that she is feeling what her character needs and wants.I still don't think that it's her hidden ability that made this possible but rather her effort working with the director.Above all, I was very impressed about the film. There are a lot of layers in the story, each characters' emotion and of course the light and shadow in the mis-en-scene.It's a wonderful art movie.

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...