First Love

CinemaSerf

What in heaven's name is Diane Kruger doing in this? It's one of these cheesy angst-ridden stories that is really all about building upon eye-candy Hero Fiennes Tiffin's "After..." series of unremarkable youthful romances. This time he ("Jim") falls for school friend "Ann" (Sydney Park) but for reasons that I didn't quite spot, she dumps him (after they've shagged, so perhaps it's not just his acting that's not so hot?). Meantime, his mum "Kay" (Miss Kruger) and her on-screen husband "Greg" (Jeffrey Donovan) are struggling in the aftermath of the financial crisis - their marriage and their home are at risk after he loses his job. Can he find work and can the kids patch their relationship up? What do you think? It's bizarre this film - nothing happens. The emotional/sex scenes are as lacking in passion as possible - without them actually being in different rooms, and the soundtrack, which can frequently be a redeeming factor in films like this - is really just lacklustre. HFT needs to be careful. He has a certain boyish charm, but he is not strong on accents (though quite why one was required here at all is anyone's guess) and unless he starts on the route to more substantial parts, then he is wont to disappear without trace leaving a legacy of teenage mush behind him. This is poor, no other word for it - even if I am not the demographic!