Directed by Franco Zeffirelli
Written by Scott Spencer (based on novel) and Judith Rascoe (screenplay)
Starring: Brooke Shields, Martin Hewitt, Shirley Knight
Running time: 1 hour and 56 minutes

MPAA rating: R

by Ryan Silberstein, Gary M. Kramer and Andy Elijah

The Tommy C. Appreciation Club, or TCAC, solemnly swears to watch and appreciate all theatrical performances by Tom Cruise then recap them, round-table style. In this edition, the Moviejawn crew dissects Tommy’s brief debut performance in Endless Love.

Gary M. Kramer: I was a teenager when Endless Love came out in 1981, and it was hotly anticipated because of Brooke Shields, who was the “it girl” of the moment (for the teen set at least). Alas, the film was a dud. (I will refrain from recounting all that is wrong with it). Franco Zeffirelli must have been hired in the hope that he would make Scott Spenser’s novel another Romeo and Juliet. Shields is lovely, but she is rather wooden as Jade. Moreover, she and Martin Hewitt, who gives an “intense” performance as her besotted David, have no real spark (pun intended). It would be interesting to see what Tom Cruise would have done in the David role because he displays a real energy here. Tommy enters his only scene in a tank top and cutoffs, stripping off his shirt to reveal his fit physique, and giving David an idea about arson. (One can only imagine the teenage Cruise’s meeting with Zeffirelli, who must have been impressed with Tommy’s raw talent). Cruise could have knocked the role of David out of the park. When David is sucking up to Jade’s mother (Shirley Knight) Hewitt’s isn’t charming the way Tommy later showed he can be. And David’s “madness” scenes are stilted and unconvincing. But maybe Cruise’s cameo works to his credit; he leaves a strong impression here; I wanted to see more of him.

Ryan Silberstein: Honestly, Tommy’s one scene is the only thing I liked about the film, and his presence really adds heat to that whole sequence (pun definitely intended). I always love going back to early performances from established stars or looking for fresh faces in new films: when someone just effortlessly lights up the screen the moment they appear. It always makes me sit up and point at the screen like Rick Dalton, like “that’s it! That’s a movie star!” Cruise here might be the textbook examples.

Having not seen Zeffirelli’s Romeo and Juliet since high school, it left enough of an impression on me that I immediately remembered the gauzy feel of that film. That overall sensibility works less well in a contemporary setting, especially since, as Gary noted, Brooke Shields and Martin Hewiit are dead on arrival. Overall, the film seems fit only for 1981’s teenagers looking for titillation and a dark spot to make out while Zeffirelli turns to Lionel Richie and Diana Ross every 15 minutes to try to breathe some life into the film. Even the scandalous seduction attempt toward David by Jade’s mother (Shirley Knight) is a faint echo of the smiliarly forbidden affair in The Graduate. I found most of Endless Love an endless bore.

A. Freedman: This is probably one of the worst movies I have ever seen. Stuck oddly in between a time where the 80’s teen romance genre was yet to be born, but already firmly in the world of the highly moralized Ronald Reagan administration. Tom Cruise does bring an instant presence to the film in his one scene.

Did people like this movie when it came out?! It does have an iconic cast of up and comers who would go on to star in later 80’s movies about troubled teens (Jami Getz, James Spader), but there is almost nothing of value to the over the top histrionics. It would be one thing if the central love story seemed unique and special above just being pathologized. He is 17 and she is 15, and that’s...it?

Gary M. Kramer: Endless Love was actually remade in 2014 with Alex Pettyfer, and it is damning with the faintest of praise to say that it was better than the original. It might have been interesting to see Cruise play Hugh, Jade’s father in the remake! (Bruce Greenwood, who took the role, wasn’t very good). So I guess, Tommy is one of the sole highlights in Endless Love because, to his credit, he plays his one scene well. Jimmy Spader (as he is credited) does fine too--though I couldn’t help but notice how he and Hewitt and inexplicably, Cruise, are all shirtless as much as possible during their screen time. (I just got such a prurient whiff from Zeffirelli who was later accused of abusive behavior by young male actors he worked with in his career). For a romance that is hardly sexy, this film is all about eye-candy.

Ryan Silberstein: I agree that Spader also comes off pretty well. I did notice the sexualization of the male bodies in this film, but to my eye Zeffirelli is trying to offer something to everyone in the eye candy department. It doesn’t justify it, but maybe I’ve just seen too many movies where it’s all about the female form while the men aren’t showing off. Though the film’s baby oil budget must have been somewhat significant. I don’t think it is quite up to being an interesting failure, but I’ve also certainly sat through worse. Probably best forgotten except as a trivia answer.

A. Freedman: I’m trying hard to think of worse movies that I have seen, and not much is coming up for me. It all feels like an afterschool special. What’s weird is how upsetting the content of the movie is- two years of involuntary psychiatric hospitalization, accidental arson, pedestrian death, your ex-girlfriend’s mom trying to sleep with you- if that’s what Americans were brought up to think love was about, well, no wonder we are so fucked. And it all seems to be swept into the rationalization of “well, that’s love.” You even have an Oscar nominated Lionel Richie song to gloss over it. This isn’t love- this is an acute hangover from the 70’s where all the dopamine has been sucked dry out of you. It’s love as horrifying addiction, but the movie doesn’t seem to get that.

Gary M. Kramer: Andy, this was based on a bestselling novel that was nominated for a National Book Award. The film (and its remake) do not follow the novel closely (the narrative of the Zeffireli film is out of sequence compared to the book). Moreover, author Scott Spencer is not a fan of either adaptation.

The Tommy C. Report Card was completed by XXX. The final score reflects an average of all report cards completed by TCAC and is taken extremely seriously...which is to be expected.

Come back next month when the Tommy C. Club discusses a flick perhaps best left buried: The Mummy!