Dear John

I have never read a Nicholas Sparks novel and honestly, I have no intentions to. I would much rather watch the chick flick film adaptations of his love stories than read the books. I knew that Dear John was not going to be of the same caliber as The Notebook, but I was pleasantly surprised with this romance infused drama.

John (Channing Tatum) is on leave from the Army for two weeks when he meets Savannah (Amanda Seyfried), who, coincidentally, is on her Spring Break from college. The two randomly meet on the beach in Wilmington, North Carolina.

The pair spend the next two weeks hanging out and getting to know each other. Savannah discovers John’s dad, Mr. Tyree (Richard Jenkins), who has a form of Asperger’s Syndrome. He struggles to communicate but Savannah is up to the challenge and is kindly considerate of his disability. Similarly, John meets Savannah’s next-door neighbors, Tim (Henry Thomas) and his son Alan (Braeden Reed), who is suffering from Autism.

John and Savannah spend their two weeks together bouncing back and forth from visiting John’s dad and Tim and Alan while simultaneously going on romantic adventures. Unfortunately, Savannah must return to college and John must return for Army duty.

He is stationed in Germany for another year and promises to write letters back and forth with Savannah. The letters are intensely romantic and full of life stories so the two continue to grow closer.

Unfortunately, things go awry after September 11, 2001 when John signs on for another two years with the Army. Injuries, a sudden loss, and dramatic changes occur during this time period with both John and Savannah.

Dear John will most likely make you a little bit upset, teary eyed, and angry but I guess that is a theme with chick flicks and romantic novels. Although I felt the opening scenes were a little bit cheesy, the middle and ending made up for it. Surprisingly, there is an awkwardly dramatic twist at the end of the film. It will leave you a bit shocked, and feminists will hate it but it makes the story a little bit more ridiculous and entertaining.

I wasn’t aware that so many issues were going to be present in this film. I was surprised at how organized and smooth the movie was able to flow from each subject. Although some parts were overly generic, I still found the film interesting.

Dear John was a little bit different than normal romantic dramas because it centered more on the guy’s life. I enjoyed the different perspective, but I thought that Channing Tatum was the weakest actor in the film, which made it a little bit hard to watch. I had trouble believing that his character was sincere and it was almost uncomfortable in the opening scenes. Towards the end of the movie his acting progressed but it was nowhere near award worthy.

Additionally, I was really nervous that Amanda Seyfried was going to get a bad rep for this film but I think it only proved how strong of an actress she is. I loved her in Jennifer’s Body and Mama Mia, and enjoy her in Big Love. Dear John might not be my most memorable film of hers, but she played an overly considerate, hopeless romantic perfectly. I might not agree with all of her character’s actions but I can blame Nicholas Sparks for that.

Richard Jenkins played a phenomenal Mr.Tyree. His struggle with Asperger’s is so realistic and unfortunate. I was beyond impressed with his acting skills and it is enlightening to see issues like these so evident in a mainstream film.

Dear John is a romantically dramatic chick flick that is good for a girl’s night out (if you’re looking for a sappy love story) or a movie night when it comes out on DVD. Dear John definitely won’t be at the top of any guys’ movie list so you might want to leave your guy friends out.