Review of Everlasting Moments (2008) by Mike C — 28 Mar 2011

I often go out of my way to find foreign movies that are supposed to be lacking of the happy Hollywood ending Americans seem to need to be inspired after a movie. Imagine my surprise and disappointment when I fell victim to one of those endings after two hours of an otherwise pretty decent film set in early 1900s Sweden. Yes, there was some swearing.

It could have been a decent movie. The film moves toward a certain ending and I made the comment...I think this is going to happen or otherwise the movie is for nothing. It has to be going somewhere. So they clearly put in this option but chose to go with a ridiculous ending that really takes at least one if not two points from the overall rating.

I don't like violence against kids or women and can't stand seeing it on tv. So I wanted to kick the shit out of the dad in this movie who is off and on a drunkard, an abusive husband and father, an adulterer, and a rapist. Yeah, a geniune hero. And I like movies where I end up liking the guy with problems. Generally, there is a process involved with a real effort to make a change. In this movie, the change is sudden and unbelievable. She has a chance to leave (albeit this would mean leaving her 30 kids behind as well), but stays only for him to magically start a hauling company and make lots of money and become an ideal husband. What a lesson for the ladies: put up with the abuse, cheating, and rapes; someday he'll be rich and that will make him a nice fella.

So this movie could have easily earned an 8/10. It was well-produced and had an epic-quality story that carried itself well. But the ending is just horrible. If I want to watch girls put up with abuse, I'll just go out in public. Keep it out of my movies where women really have the chance to do something about it.