Evelyn (Evie) Hayden and Brianna (Bree) McMillan are truly made for one another. They have a motto that defines their friendship as something eternal: "Forever and Ever." They are also incapable of understanding that the true nature of friendship has limitations.
"Friendship Never Dies" (a.k.a., "Best Friends Forever") was a troubling film from the standpoint of its overt pessimism. There was a cynical approach to the children's relationship to their parents. In both Evie and Bree, there was a deep-seated and unhealthy resentment of their mothers. There was also an excessive expression of violence that includes the senseless deaths of three decent people.
It was heartbreaking to see the death of Bree's mother Mindy, who genuinely cared about her daughter. The murders of Bree's cousin Sarah Louise and her boyfriend Alex Tyler were also completely gratuitous. Any element of suspense in the film was mitigated by the gruesome nature of these senseless acts.
The most interesting character was Evie's mother Lucy, the school principal who was in a position to monitor her daughter's mental health both at home and at school. As sensitive as Lucy was in her concern about her daughter's "safety," she missed danger signs about a deeply troubled soul.
It was revealing that very few characters in this film ever smiled. While the two besties gave the appearance of being in ecstasy over each other, the smiles were phony and the bonding of the characters was never measured in sincere human emotions.
From start to finish, this film was a bummer. At one point, Alex mentioned to Bree that he was reading Mark Twain's "Adventures of Huckleberry Finn." Now, that work is an illustration of what true friendship is all about.
1 out of 2 found this helpful.
Was this review helpful? Sign in to vote.
Permalink
