Forever My Girl is a 2018 American romantic drama film that was written and directed by Bethany Ashton Wolf and is based on the novel written by Heidi McLaughlin. It follows a country musician who sets out to win over the girl that he left at the alter eight years before. Abby Ryder Fortson, Travis Tritt, and John Benjamin Hickey also star in the film.

The film takes place in Saint Augustine, Louisiana. Josie is left at the altar by her fiancee, Liam. Fade to eight years later, as Liam is now a successful country singer, and he learns that one day after a concert in New Orleans, that Mason, one of his groomsmen from the wedding had been killed in a car accident. Liam returns to St. Augustine to attend the funeral, and while he has absolutely every intention of being discreet, Josie immediately recognizes him. After the burial, Josie approaches him and punches him in the stomach.

It was released in the United States on January 19, 2018 and received negative reviews from film critics. With heavy criticism directed toward the writing and the chemistry between the actors, comparing it negatively to Nicholas Sparks films, although the audience reception was much more positive and film was considered to be a box office.

The Film Itself (2.5/5):

Forever My Girl is one of those films that absolutely tries its hardest to mimic those Nicholas Sparks films.  Being your typical romantic drama, the film is completely and thoroughly predictable at every corner.  However, the story of this one was presented in a manner that made the overall experience to be semi-wholesome and allowed for a pretty calm evening that welcomed the occasional distraction as it progressed onward.  There really weren’t any moments that stood out in the storyline, or any that connected with either my wife or I, but overall we found it to be a semi-enjoyable film; regardless of the country music accompaniment.

Picture Quality (5/5):

Overall, the visual presentation of Forever My Girl looked pretty damn good as it played out across my living room television.  Giving a very artistic view of the horizon, and “down home” vibe from their community, the visuals of this film were, for lack of a better term, stunning.  The darker scenes featured more than enough ambient lighting that allowed for us to visually see and understand what was happening without having to try and focus our eyes further; and it did a really great job at offering a very comfortable experience overall.

Audio Quality (5/5):

Packaged with an English DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 audio track, Forever My Girl doesn’t really have the kind of story that would require an all out immersive experience for its viewers.  Focusing primarily on the dialogue, and the communication between the titular characters, the film focus coming from the front channels were enough.  There was ample awareness of the camera location in relation to the cast positioning in the film that allowed for the transition between the fronts and the rears to be clean and clear, and offered no distortion in the entire experience.  Dialogue was clean and clear, and presented in a way that allowed for everything to be heard and understood without having to manually adjust the volume levels as it progressed.

The Packaging (2/5):

The Blu-ray release of Forever My Girl comes packaged in your standard single disc Blu-ray amaray case.  Within that case is the standard Blu-ray copy of the film, the disc featuring absolutely no artwork that’s related to the film whatsoever outside of the standard release text and the overly used blue background for the Blu-ray disc.  There are no DVD copies of the film included with this release; however, a digital copy redemption pamphlet has been included for those who do enjoy the included streaming options.  There is also a slipcover that’s been made available with the original pressing that features the same piece of artwork that’s provided on the case art.

  

Special Features (1/5):

Unfortunately, the Blu-ray release of Forever My Girl is considerably lacking in terms of additional content.  The content that has been included offers an extremely minimal look into the work that went into making the film, offers absolutely nothing in regards to an extended look into the storyline, and in fact, I’m even ashamed to admit that this is even considered to be a special feature.  There should have at least been a feature audio commentary included or even some interviews from the cast or crew members that worked on the film.  Included with this release is:

• Photo Gallery

Technical Specs:

Video

Codec: MPEG-4 AVC

Resolution: 1080p

Original Aspect Ratio: 2.39:1

Audio

English: DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1

Subtitles

English SDH, Spanish

Runtime

Original Film: 108 minutes

Final Thoughts:

Overall, Forever My Girl  wasn’t the worst experience that I’ve had with a movie.  I mean, the story that was given with this movie was one that, while completely predictable throughout, was one that I felt was wholesome, innocent and semi-enjoyable for those who like these kinds of films.  Is it something that I feel that I would watch again, probably not.  The visual and audible presentation of the Blu-ray release was clean and clear, and allowed for an extremely comfortable experience by both my wife and I.  The additional content is very lacking, and very, very bland on this release.  If you’re considering adding it to your collection, I would personally recommend that you rent it first to see if it’s something that you’re going to want to add to your library.  Otherwise wait for it to go on sale.  Forever My Girl will be available on Blu-ray and DVD beginning on Tuesday April 24, 2018.

Note: This Blu-ray was sent to us for review. This has not affected our judgement or editorial process in any way. Please contact us if you have any questions regarding this process.