Holy crap, did I have a tough time getting through Endless Love! However, I think if I had seen this back when I was a teenager, I probably would have liked the movie. Not just because Brooke Shields is very easy on the eyes, but this kind of young obsessive (well maybe not to this degree) love would have been easier to relate to. Watching this now, 40 plus years after it was released made me quickly see why this is not regarded as an 80s classic.
How to Download Endless Love (1981)
Endless Love was released on July 17, 1981. You can download or stream the film from a digital platform. Click on the Download button at the end of this review and make your choice. If you like romantic drama movies, check out our reviews of more recent films We Live in Time and It Ends with Us.
The Movie Review
Iconic Moments That Make Endless Love Stand Out
Before we get to the movie, I do have to talk about a few of the cool and fun things about Endless Love. To start with, this is where the famous song from Lionel Ritchie and Diana Ross comes from which led to the hilarious scene in Happy Gilmour which is awesome. However, this movie is also kind of famous for being the first theatrical role for a very young Tom Cruise.
The Story of Endless Love (1981)
The movie is about an obsessive high school teenage romance. We have Brooke Shields playing the role of a 15-year-old girl called Jade who lives with her parents and brother in a kind of bohemian lifestyle. Brooke Shields in the 80s was the dream girl for many teenage guys and she actually does a fantastic job in this movie.
Falling for the irresistible charm and beauty of Miss Shields is Martin Hewitt as David. David is 17 and comes from a more wealthy and conservative family. It is pretty much love at first sight for David who does not just love Jade, but also is amazed by how open, free, and loving her family is compared to his.
The Downward Spiral of Obsession
These two have a whirlwind romance and David becomes completely obsessed with her. They spend so much time together that Jade starts struggling in school so her parents, mainly her dad, tell David to cool off on the relationship until after she graduates. Of course, this is not what David wanted to hear and he starts spiraling out of control.
David has the great idea to start a fire and then become the hero by saving Jade and her family. The crazy thing about this fire plan is that David thinks it is a good idea and that it will work. As you would expect, it does not and David gets in some real trouble. Things go from bad to worse for David and he really does start to become this very unlikable character. By the time the movie got to the end, I was so happy for Jade as this young lady dodged one hell of a bullet by getting away from David.
The Legacy of Endless Love
I have certainly seen way worse movies than Endless Love and it did give us that iconic song that has been covered about a million times, by the way, there is a fun cover by Brett Michaels of Poison that never gets brought up, be sure to give that one a listen. Actually, checking out all the different versions of the song is way more entertaining than the movie so I would suggest you do that.
While I have not exactly been super enthusiastic about the movie. To be fair, it is an important movie as it was Tom Cruise’s first theatrical role and younger people may not understand what a big deal Brooke Shields was back in the 80s. So her being in this was huge. Still, this is a movie I will probably never watch again.
