The Grand Rapids (Michigan)
November 12, 2000
By John Douglas

A while back, I spoke with Paul Schrader just as he was beginning production on "Forever Mine," his latest film. Schrader said it was a love story, and I couldn't help but wonder what sort of love story he would write, considering his scripts include the hard-edged likes of "Taxi Driver," "Raging Bull," "Last Temptation of Christ," "Affliction" and "Bringing Out the Dead."

Well, now the film is available, and we can all see what this Grand Rapids native and Calvin College graduate brings to the genre of the love story. "Forever Mine" opens at 8 tonight. Not in a local theater, though, but on the Starz cable channel on TV. And-wouldn't you know it- "Forever Mine" isn't a conventional love story, it's a decidedly Paul Schrader version.

"Forever Mine" reminds me of the short stories of Honore de Balzac, filled with irony and plot. That doesn't mean "Forever Mine" is a fast-paced film, because it isn't. It takes its time, and the story covers many years in the lives of the characters.

The principal character is Alan Ripley(Joseph Fiennes), a cabana boy for a Miami resort hotel. His best friend, Javier(Vincent Laresca), has been trying to get Alan to go into drug dealing with him, but Alan wants to walk the straight and narrow to success.

Then the love story begins, such as it is. Alan falls for Ella Brice(Gretchen Mol), who is staying at the resort with her powerful and jealous husband, Mark(Ray Liotta).

The story moves from Florida to New York, where the Brices live, and there is an affair. Ella fells guilty about the affair and so, being Catholic, she confesses to a priest and then to her husband. This puts Alan into a world of hurt as Mark seeks a brutal way to stop the romance.

Then the story skips ahead in time, takes a very unusual turn and goes in unconventional directions, which is what we might expect from Schrader. There is also violence, which is to be expected.

I wouldn't say that this is the most successful film Schrader has ever been involved in, but it is certainly worth a look, even if you are simply curious as to the direction our local filmmaker is taking.

Schrader never plays it safe, you see, and for that reason I always look forward to his films-even those that were done for television, such as "Witch Hunt," which was a pleasurable piece of work about McCarthyism-inspired witch hunting and magic in Hollywood.

Schrader gets some good performances from his principal players, and John Bailey's camera keeps the visuals on the edgy side. Not your normal love story. "Forever Mine" is a dark love story.

"It's based on a script I wrote for MGM 10 years ago," Schrader said in an interview last week. "It's and old-fashioned melodrama a throwback to the old studio productions like the films of Douglas Sirk"

I also asked Schrader why this film was opening on television instead of in a theater.

"It was a an $18 million film," Schrader said, "and we made it without a distribution deal in advance." While they were looking for a distributor, he said, the production went bankrupt, so a Dutch insurance agency that ended up with ownership of the film sold it to television as part of a package of films. Also during the interview, I asked Schrader how he liked his new neighbors in Chappaqua, N.Y., where he lives. That's right Bill and Hillary Clinton moved in across the street from Schrader.

"They had a potluck, and all the neighbors were invited over," said Schrader. He also said that he has run into the Clintons a couple of times as he goes about his business in Chappaqua.