FOREVER MY GIRL tells the story of country star Liam Page’s attempts to reconnect with the people of in his small hometown after the death of an old friend. In particular, he focuses on trying to recapture his love for Josie, whom he was due to be marry before leaving her at the altar without a single word. Eight years pass from Liam leaving and returning and in the meantime he becomes an internationally famous singer.
The very first scene of the movie is Josie getting herself ready to walk down the aisle only for one of the groomsmen to come bearing the news that Liam is gone. Needless to say, this does not introduce Liam as a likable character. This is one of the biggest issues with the film. Liam only states his reason for walking out on Josie near the very end of the story and this has the unfortunate effect of tainting his character arc for the vast majority of the production. He has a very dopey but good-hearted personality, but this is undermined by the abysmal introduction to him. His reason for leaving is poorly elaborated on and completely unsatisfying and does not justify his actions in the slightest.
This has another negative effect in that it leaves Josie in a relatively weak position. She puts up a half-hearted attempt to refute Liam’s initial attempts to re-initiate their relationship and ends up being portrayed as somewhat of a doormat. Jessica Rothe‘s portrayal of Josie is not very noteworthy, though her and Roe do have a strong chemistry as the lead couple. Alex Roe is not particularly charismatic in the lead role either and about the only thing that saves this romance is the way that he and Rothe play off of each other. Their characters make a cute couple and the story does leave the audience wanting everything to work out for the best. There are the predictable and tedious moments where things seem like they’re going to go completely wrong, but these are to be expected with this kind of movie.
The only standout performance of the production would be Abby Ryder Fortson as Josie’s young daughter Billy. She is smart, matter-of- fact, and has some laudable comedic moments throughout most of the movie. There are some particularly impressive moments of comedic timing on Fortson’s part that make nearly every scene she’s involved in a joy to watch.
A particularly interesting aspect of FOREVER MY GIRL is the tiny Louisiana town that serves as its setting, which is as much a character as the leads with several moments showcasing a relatively quaint portrayal of a small southern community where everyone knows everyone. This is a little hit-and-miss because occasionally the fake accents are laughable and there are a few subtleties about this kind of town that are lost. Everybody knows everybody, but their interactions tend to be stiff and even uncomfortable at times. Viewers unfamiliar with small towns like this would probably not notice this but those that do have an eye for this kind of thing might end up seeing this as a very hollow setting.
There are not really any surprises present with this film, so the savvy viewer will likely see every twist coming and know the ultimate resolution within the first few seconds of each scene. This production does nothing wrong aside from bizarre and weak characterization and even then, the three major characters are all compelling when taken as three parts of a whole. Overall FOREVER MY GIRL gets a 3/5
