Movie Grade: B

The truth of the matter is that real love, the type that burns inside of you and makes you do crazy things that are sometimes contrary to your nature, is completely unaffected by the passage of time. Time becomes completely irrelevant where true love is concerned. Two weeks or twenty years make no difference, the feeling is always there and although it may grow less obviously palpable over time, it never fades and never goes away.

Dear John is a movie that tries to show us one of these love stories and while it doesn’t succeed in being as moving and amazing a tale as The Notebook was, it ends up succeeding in other areas.

Based on the bestselling novel by Nicholas Sparks and directed by Lasse Hallstrom Dear John is the story of John Tyree (Channing Tatum) a Special Forces Green Beret home on leave one summer in his native South Carolina where he meets the love of his life, Savannah Curtis (Amanda Seyfried). A chance encounter on the beach is all the pair need to realize the connection that exists between them and although he has to return to service they begin an epic exchange of letters that keeps their love alive and helps them to grow closer even though they are a world apart. When 9/11 hits, John has to choose between coming home to Savannah and re-upping in the military to fight this new threat.

On paper this has the potential to be a real tear-jerker of a movie, but in reality it has a much softer emotional punch than one would assume. The problem with this love story is that the audience only connects with one side of it. Channing Tatum‘s character and his performance are so much deeper and more layered than Amanda Seyfried‘s that you feel a much great connection with John than you do with Savannah. Ultimately the most moving aspect of the film is John’s relationship with his father (Richard Jenkins) not with Savannah. Personally for me that elevated the movie from the typical ‘lovey-dovey drivel’ to a movie about the real emotions that a man deals with throughout his life.

This is not to say that I dislike Amanda Seyfried in any way. Quite the contrary I think she is wonderfully unique and quirky and far more interesting to watch than a lot of the ‘leading ladies’ out there today. The part just wasn’t flushed out enough to be really moving. Also John is dealing with an ill father, going to war, controlling his once out of control and dangerous temper and somehow trying to win the affections of

the rich girl he met on the beach, all while Savannah is going to college. There’s just not much of her story to latch on to. I also can’t stand it when a man goes off to war (where he has to fight to stay alive) and somehow we’re supposed to feel worse for the woman who is left at home. I never, ever understood that.

Channing Tatum does an amazing job of not only fully inhabiting this character but also truly connecting with his audience. The scenes where he is pained are so effective that they make you feel and share his pain in a way that a lot of young actors aren’t able to convey. Some will argue that he plays the same character in every film and in some senses that’s true, but let’s face it the biggest stars in the world always play themselves and everyone loves them for it. I don’t think Channing will ever disappear into a role and become unrecognizable, but I think he chooses characters that he relates to and that experience emotions that he can honestly and deeply replicate. And he always looks damn good while he’s doing it too which doesn’t hurt!

Obviously because of the timeline the story touches upon the 9/11 terror attacks in New York City and while I’m never a fan of seeing those news reports on screen again, Hallstrom was very smart in that he showed only enough of it to establish the event and properly alter the mood of the film. Two brief clips were more than enough even though I could sense the tension in the screening room increase as soon as they happened.

So while this wasn’t the big ‘ol cry fest I was expecting it was still a solid story with great performances by Channing Tatum and Richard Jenkins and is well worth seeing.

Movie Grade: B

Synopsis:

A romantic drama about a soldier who falls for a conservative college student while he’s home on leave.