reviewed by: Charity Bishop
      

I knew the minute I popped this film in that it had a kind of magic about it, the same magic that accompanied While You Were Sleeping the first time I saw it. No, it wasn't the handsome, chiseled face of Mel Gibson that got me, or even the idealistic premise or the laugh that was produced when I saw an extremely young Elijah Woods in yet another dramatic, power-packed role. There was just something about the film...

Daniel McCormick (Mel Gibson) doesn't mind taking chances. A test pilot with a devil-may-care attitude toward death, he performs live stunts, has a great sense of humor, and is passionately in love with his childhood friend Helen (Isabel Glasser). His best friend Harry Findley (George Wendt) is a scientist for the war department who has just successfully completed a test run of his latest invention... which has the ability to successfully freeze a living form for a certain amount of time. He's tested the system on a live chicken and returned it to full health after six weeks of being frozen. The next step up is a human being. Spring is all around them, and Daniel feels that he should propose to Helen, but the "words just don't get past his throat." Chickening out just before she's due to leave town for a few weeks on-assignment, Daniel gives her a passing kiss and steps into the nearest phone booth to call up Harry and tell him that he "almost" did it. With horror, he steps out of the booth to find Helen laying on the pavement, having just been hit by a truck. His chance is lost. She lies in a coma for two weeks... three weeks... six weeks...

"I can't bear to see her die, Harry," he tells his friend. And then drops the bombshell... he wants to be frozen for a year. If Helen wakes up, he wants to come back, but if she doesn't, leave him. Somewhat warily, Harry agrees... and Daniel is frozen in time. But something goes wrong... and we flash-forward to the present, in which two little boys, Nat (Elijah Wood) and Felix, are fooling around in an old government warehouse. Pretending that the canister is a submarine, they accidentally reverse the process and bring Daniel back. Suddenly it's 1992, and Daniel is in a world with which he has no connections. What happened? Why would Harry leave him frozen? Whatever happened to Helen? These are questions that must be answered... but as he searches for the truth, Daniel realizes that something is wrong. Something strange is happening to him. And even his newfound friends, Nat and his mother Claire, cannot fully explain the sudden changes in his life.

Forever Young is the kind of film that appeals to romantics at heart. I was completely unprepared for the turn that the plot took halfway through, but when one reflects, there really is no other ending that would feel right. It has excellent performances by Mel Gibson and Elijah Woods, although the women in the production seem too pale and under-emphasized. It's a science fiction adventure, a romance, a comedy, and yet in part a tragedy. It's also the story of growing into manhood, in its own peculiar little way. The charisma is there, the plot is very well thought-out, and yet there's almost a somberness to the ending, which is bittersweet/ There is some language, but it doesn't overly detract from the script and is at times appropriate in shocking Daniel into the modern world. For a guy who says "heck," "darn," and other mild alternatives to popular profanities, he's suitably wide-eyed when a woman is verbally venting. There's very little violence except for a fistfight between Daniel and an Claire's abusive ex-boyfriend. Sensuality is present, as is mild backside nudity only seen briefly in the shadows. Some passionate kissing never goes any further, a woman is seen briefly in her bra (and with a torn shirt).

Viewers should be forewarned that Claire's boyfriend shows up, slaps her around, and forces her onto a table. This element surprised me, since I wasn't warned in any of the reviews I read online. It's not a film I would watch more than once or twice, and I was a bit let down when I realized what was happening to Daniel. But for older teens, it's an engaging watch with a few surprises up its sleeves. It's also a valuable contrast between the innocence of another age compared with our own modern world in which things are viewed very differently. One of the most memorable scenes is when Daniel kisses Claire and then apologizes for taking advantage of her. His character is good through and through and makes for a noteworthy hero. And that's exceptionally rare in Hollywood.