The film never slows down or bores, plunging from one harrowing sequence to the next.

It’s not bad or unwatchable but despite the amplitude of the spectacle, the end result is underwhelming.

By the time the dramatic fireworks start popping off, each one feels earned.

The movie really just wants to entertain people.

Endless Love (1981) is a romantic drama directed by Franco "Romeo and Juliet" Zeffirelli, starring Brooke Shields and Martin Hewitt as the two young lovers Jade & David who go through thick and thin just to be with each other. The problem is that Jade's free love parents Ann and Hugh allow the young lovers to spend too much time together initially and when they try to act like disciplinarian parents, the cow has left the barn and there's no way it's going back in. Now forbidden to see each other, their love now knows no bounds as it reaches to a point where only something drastic and dramatic lies awaiting.Based upon the novel "Endless Love" which was written by Scott Spencer and it's a much darker tale loosely based upon the writer's life. I found the movie to be a sweet and over-the-top melodramatic flick that's highly entertaining for all the wrong reasons. Brooke Shields demonstrates her acting abilities that were never quite truly harnessed to their fullest potential whilst director Franco Zeffirelli tries to recreate "Romeo and Juliet" all over again. Martin Hewitt is basically a cipher who goes through the motions, not horrible just there.

(Lyrics excerpt from title song) - "I give it all to you - My endless love." Giggle-giggle-giggle.... DavidLovesJadeLovesDavidLovesJadeLovesDavid... Uh.... Seriously, folks!Over the years, 1981's Endless Love has somehow turned into one of those ill-fated Teen/Tragedy/Love stories that gets itself royally trashed, time & again.But regardless of its clichéd corniness, its peculiar character idiosyncrasies, and its emotional dysfunction overload, I found Endless Love to be a helluva lot better than I expected it to be. In fact, I had initially thought I was gonna hate this one, big-time, but that didn't turn out to be the case.Far from being the greatest love story ever told, Endless Love (a very bitter study of erotic obsession and the inability to let go) was generally entertaining but, at the same time, it was also a mighty hard pill to swallow, as well.*Trivia Notes* - Endless Love's title song (written by Lionel Richie and performed by Richie and Diana Ross) was an instant #1 hit on the record charts.In the part of "Billy", Tom Cruise, 19 at the time, made his feature-film debut.

There was so much potential squandered by this film, it's a crime. Although I haven't read the book, I understand that considerable liberties were taken with the film; regardless, it is an illogical mess. How many mothers would admiringly watch their own high school aged daughters having sex in the living room, then pursue the teenage boyfriend?! How many idiots would think destroying their girlfriend's house via arson would be the way to win them over?!!!I am a HUGE fan of '80s movies and enjoy the distinctive look of films from this time. And I defy anyone to find a more beautiful creature than Brooke Shields in the '80s. But these are the only real bright spots, and can only overcome so much. The big appeal of this film to me is the idea of what it would have been like to have Brooke as your girlfriend back in high school (I'm not the only one!!), but unfortunately, you've got to endure her imbecile boyfriend who not only sets fire to her family home, but indirectly causes her father's death. By the midpoint of the movie, I was hoping SOMEONE would knock his lights out and that Brooke would leave him far, far behind. I'm sure any real family would feel the same way.Although I was a Brooke fan in the '80s and had seen Blue Lagoon, I never got around to seeing Endless Love for some reason. Nostalgia inspired me just last year to watch it for the first time. The only thing about this that has aged well is Brooke's timeless beauty and the beautiful theme song. The strength of these two things makes it worth watching, at least once....

I wonder if they had to book two seats for Franco Zefirelli when they flew him in from Italy to direct this through trashing of Scott Spenser's fine novel. Certainly an additional seat was needed to transport the immense ego of this overrated hack from Italy, who previously lucked out by making the one movie ,"Romeo and Juliet," that had a such a guaranteed audience it couldn't fail. I just hope Scott got a lot of money, 'cause seeing his fine novel turned into dung by this pretentious fraud must have been painful. Suffering through this poorly acted, horribly directed travesty has actually held me back from watching "Waking the Dead," which, while it my be a more respectful adaptation of a later Spencer novel does change some basic plot elements and eliminates several of the book's key characters.