With Valentine's Day right around the corner and the adorable billboards of "Waiting for Forever" plastered across the city, people must be wondering is this the must-see Valentine's Day flick this year?  If you want to see a light-hearted romantic comedy with your valentine à la last year’s film "Valentine’s Day," then this is not the movie for you.

Entering this film believing it to be a romantic comedy was a misconception, and the viewer is left wondering if this is even a love story by the end.

In short, Rachel Bilson’s character Emma, returns home to Pittsburgh from Los Angeles to visit her father who is ill. Her mother, played by Blythe Danner, is struggling to cope with the illness and her inability to really connect with Emma who is having relationship problems of her own with beau Aaron. 

A few days after being home, Emma believes she coincidentally bumps into a childhood friend, Will (played by British newcomer Tom Sturridge), but the fact is that Will has been following her from city to city since she left for college. Sturridge’s character is childish in his demeanor, working as a street performer who lives with few possessions and wades through life in a pair of flannel pajamas, tied to Emma who helped him cope with the tragic death of his parents at a young age. The story evolves from there as both Emma and the audience are left to question Will’s true intentions as he obsessively pursues Emma.

Blythe Danner and Richard Jenkins did a standout job as Bilson’s parents in the film. Bilson plays a character who herself seems innocent and likable, but not anything that was remarkably different from how audiences have seen her in the past when she was in "The OC" or "Jumper." In terms of appearance, Bilson is verging on too think with a style that her co-star Sturridge describes as “the classic Pittsburgh-girl-moved-to-LA look”, but, she looks chic and treks around in leather booties with quite a heel for most of the movie.

Sturridge, who starred in last year’s "Pirate Radio," has his first major role in this film. In an interview at the Standard in West Hollywood on Tuesday, Sturridge shot down speculation that he picked up the script for this film off of best friend Robert Pattison’s floor, “I don’t know how people are still holding on to this story…I said I was staying with a friend when I read the script, and people are like, well he’s obviously only got one friend... So it must be Robert.” 

Director James Keach ("Walk the Line") has high hopes for Sturridge who filled the role for the “hardest part he’s ever had to cast.” Keach made a room full of journalists fall silent as he explained that story was based upon the life of its screenwriter, Steve Adams, who lost his parents at a young age and moved away from his hometown to live with his uncle, the famed Kurt Vonnegut, who at the time was just a struggling writer. As for Sturridge, he is one to watch, as he also takes on lead roles in "Junkhearts" and "On The Road" released later this year. 

This film was made independently and definitely retains that feel.  If you are looking for a Valentine’s Day pick-me-up or something a little sexy, then this is not the film for you. As a piece of art and for the acting, this film should receive praise, but perhaps releasing it so close to Valentine’s Day may not have been the right move.

VIDEO: NT interviews the cast of "Waiting For Forever" at the Los Angeles premiere below.

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