MOVIE OF THE WEEK (2/5/10) DEAR JOHN

If a picture's worth a 1,000 words, I think all the ones that come to mind for the average guy looking at this one with his girlfriend or wife are of a four-letter variety ... Soft-spoken soldier John Tyree (Channing Tatum) gazes deep into settle the eyes of southern belle Savannah Curtis (Amanda Seyfriend) in the latest Nicholas Sparks' book adaptation DEAR JOHN.
Credit: Screen Gems

KEY CAST MEMBERS: Channing Tatum, Amanda Seyfried, Richard Jenkins, Henry Thomas, Keith Robinson, a box of tissue for the ladies, a blindfold for the men

WRITER: Nicholas Sparks (novel); Jamie Linden (screenplay)

DIRECTOR: Lasse Hallström

WEB SITE: http://www.dearjohn-movie.com/

THE PLOT: The latest cinematic offering from Nicholas Sparks, the man who brought you such classic take-her-or-your-girlfriend-may-leave-you fodder such as Nights in Rodanthe, The Notebook and Message in a Bottle, Dear John stars Channing Tatum in the (semi) title role as John Tyree. A member of the United States' Special Forces, John is a quiet young man who serves his country proudly ... And tries to get along as best he can with his reclusive, coin-collecting father (Richard Jenkins).

John's life is forever changed one day while at home on leave as he comes across Savannah (Amanda Seyfried), a young woman home from college for the summer. After fate provides John a chance to be heroic, Savannah becomes smitten with him and the two strike up a conversation ... Which leads to another conversation ... You can see where this is going.

Where they are each going, however, is a key problem in their relationship. For John has to return to active duty in a pre-Sept. 11th world (we know why the term "pre-9/11" exists) and Savannah has to return to school.

But as they try to maintain their relationship, the education they both get in love serves to test their ideas of commitment while pulling at both their and the audience's heartstings.

THE TAKE: Since this movie comes from a strong heritage of chick flicks, you might be inclined to think of this as a chick flick - and you'd be right. Thus, I am going to break the film down in terms of chick flick standards and average guy standards so that both audiences (i.e. women and the men that will likely be forced to see it with them) know exactly what they are getting.

Positives for both audiences: The acting, despite Tatum's status as the apparent long-lost brother of World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE) superstar John Cena, is pretty darn good. Tatum plays the role out as best any man in the situation he's in would. Seyfried is also not a stereotypical wet blanket and actually adds some depth to her character and acting - wait for it - rationally where a lot of women in movies would not. (Think about any of Cameron Diaz's recent rom-com roles if you disagree. Now apologize. Thank you.) Also, Richard Jenkins (you know, the dad from Step Brothers who was nominated for a lot of awards for 2007's The Visitor) is great in a dramatic role.

Other positives include the realistic approach to a relationship by both couples, the exploration of the relationship between father and son and Hallström's sincere handling of both 9/11 and life in the modern military. Also, the cinematography is quite nice.

Negatives: There is only one problem, really, with Dear John and not having read the book, I cannot say for certain if it is conveyed in novel form as it is in the film ... And that problem is this: THE MOVIE IS OVERWROUGHT BALL OF SAP DESIGNED TO PREY ON YOUR EMOTIONS AND MANIPULATE THEM AS MUCH AS POSSIBLE WITHIN 2 HOURS OF TIME. Re-read the positives above; if you are the type of person who cries easily, get a couple of boxes of tissue. If you are the super cynical type, you will blast the film more than necessary.

But if you are in-between, you might be able to discern between the good parts of the story and appreciate those as I did while still feeling, at the film's highly unsatisfying, Sopranos-like end, like the film tried it's hardest to be more than it was and more than it was capable of being. If every single thing in the film wasn't so heart-wrenching, it might feel more organic, more natural. But it doesn't.

Much like the relationship at the center of the film, Dear John is - unless you're a dedicated chick flick fan - likely to make you feel like you've suffered through a long relationship that had the potential to be great but ended with you in therapy.

CHICK FLICK RATING (OUT OF FOUR POSSIBLE BUCKETS OF POPCORN):








AVERAGE GUY RATING (OUT OF FOUR POSSIBLE BUCKETS OF POPCORN):