Heidi McLaughlin's 2012 novel "Forever My Girl," a Nicholas Sparks-like tale of love lost and found, comes to the screen courtesy of young writer-director Bethany Ashton Wolf.
In the female-friendly story line, love is lost when homegrown country-pop star Liam Page (Alex Roe) ditches his high school sweetheart Josie (Jessica Rothe) at the altar during a frenzy surrounding his first hit single. Eight years later, he has become the Justin Bieber of contemporary country music, an overly entitled enfant terrible who is pursued by rabid mobs of fans and photographers everywhere he goes.
Sad news from his hometown of Saint Augustine, La., brings Liam back home, much to the chagrin of his long-suffering manager Sam (Peter Cambor) and high-powered Hollywood publicist Doris (Gillian Vigman). But no one at home seems too pleased to see him. Not his dad, Pastor Brian (John Benjamin Hickey), and definitely not his ex, who slugs him a good one. The only one who seems remotely interested is — drumroll, please — his 7-year-old daughter, Billy (Abby Ryder Fortson), whose existence comes as a complete surprise to Liam.
The precocious Billy is the catalyst for Liam and Josie to reunite and for Liam to leave his bad-boy ways behind and embrace fatherhood, but the child never feels like a real character. Instead, she's simply a device to enable Liam to find himself. Her dialogue is always a bit too pointed, and even her name, Billy, is a reference to his deceased mother. The film twists itself up in ham-fisted psychology while trying to answer the question "What happened?" At a certain point, you just wish poor Liam could get some therapy.
Rothe and Roe have a palpable chemistry, and she makes the most of her scorned Southern belle role. In the end, though, "Forever My Girl" is a showcase for the British hunk Roe, who is gifted with a pair of piercing blue eyes, all the better to smolder with, and the ability to wear a T-shirt better than anyone has ever worn a T-shirt. His Liam is tortured, bratty and ultimately broken, and because he seeks redemption, he is redeemable within the world of the story.
"Forever My Girl" doesn't stray from the formula or do anything revolutionary, and the story is resolved a bit too easily. But for an audience, seeking fluffy, escapist, country music-tinged romance, it will definitely hit a sweet spot.
'Forever My Girl'
Two stars
out of four stars
Rated PG; mature themes, drinking, language
1 hour, 44 minutes
Opens with Thursday-night screenings
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