Dear John movie reviews
This week's literary movie is "Dear John," a tear-jerker adapted from the book of the same name by the King of Tear-Jerkers, Nicholas Sparks (who's a high school track coach in his spare time). It's a love story interrupted by the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks. Practical Army guy (played by Channing Tatum)meets idealistic girl (Amanda Seyfried), he abandons her to fight Osama, and a "Dear John" letter follows. (Here's the trailer and official site.) Sparks' novels have sparked other romantic movies, including "The Notebook," "Night in Rodanthe" and "A Walk to Remember" -- "Dear John" appears to be another weeper. Here are excerpts from reviews for the new movie:
San Fracisco Chronicle -- Sure, it sounds corny. But director Lasse Hallstrom ("Chocolat") and screenwriter Jamie Linden give the whirlwind romance an appealing, straightforward decency, and Tatum and Seyfried click rather effortlessly. They're not Ryan Gosling and Rachel McAdams from "The Notebook," but they'll do.
New York Times -- [T]he latest attempt to bring his warm, earnest, therapeutic sensibility to the screen, falls in the upper middle range of Sparks film adaptations. the latest attempt to bring his warm, earnest, therapeutic sensibility to the screen, falls in the upper middle range of Sparks film adaptations.
Miami Herald -- "Dear John" is at its date-movie best in the first half; it's the sort of pretty weeper that will draw young women in droves. Later on the film gets a bit bogged down in its noble ambitions.
Los Angeles Times -- What we don't really have is an actual film but a very long music video with lots of montages of John and Savannah "moments" as they read their letters in absentia, which means neither the fans nor the foes of "The Notebook" are likely to be satisfied.
Variety -- Ultimately, the story feels as if it's killing time before throwing the next hurdle at the couple, seizing on a favorite Sparks theme that in matters of love, life isn't fair.
Reuters -- The mad passion at the center of the movie raises the temperature not one degree, and all the sentimentality that surrounds the movie -- an autistic child, a shy, emotionally stunted father, a wounded vet and later a character with a stroke and another with cancer -- feels like so many tugs on the heartstrings.
Comments
Somewhere in the last part of the 20th century or the very early part of this one, I got a note from an old friend saying that her youngest, who was gainfully employed (every parent's dream!) by a publisher was going to be allowed to be in the presence of the editing process AND the book was located in Rodanthe!
One summer, long ago, when our kids were young, this editor-daughter was the smallest, following the "big" kids - you know, the potty-trained ones? - around a house that our 2 families had rented in Rodanthe, Outer Banks, North Carolina. Clearly, this was A Sign! AND!! And...and...and, the author had actually been published before! (I suppose this is a big deal. What I know about publishing could fit into this little box I'm typing into and still have a nice margin.)
The author was Sparks. In honor of Youngest and her glorious career, I read The Notebook. Then I read, A Walk To Remember followed by A Bend In The Road. (Three books could be construed as a bit over-the-top, but it's what are Mom's friends for?)
By the time that I got to page 30 in Nights in Rodanthe, I had the formula nailed down and knew who was going to die.
Don't ever repeat this to The Little One, but I can live a long and happy life without another of Sparks' books.
Posted by: Eve | February 5, 2010 11:36 AM
Eve, great story. Must be exciting for an agent when an author hits it big.
Posted by: Dave | February 5, 2010 4:59 PM
Osama bin Laden is a big bad guy,he caused the death of many innocent civilians.i hope he disappears from the earth soon as possible.
Posted by: leesmith | February 5, 2010 9:25 PM
It wasn't the Notebook but Channing Tatum was definitely good to look at and in the end I enjoyed it. Poor Amanda lost the beach house because of medical bills though - that would never happen in Canada!!!
Posted by: Claudia | February 11, 2010 6:43 PM
I read the book first before i saw the movie, and I do not enjoy reading very much but this book just captured my attention. I can say in my honest opinion that the book blew the movie out of the water. Amanda Seyfried did not seem to express her emotions as well as Channing Tatum did. I understand that a movie can only be so long and include so many things but to me, the movie left out many of the needed details that the book included. I was disappointed with the movie and would have been satisfied with just reading the book. I did not know that going into the movie but afterwords it was a huge disappointment. I think for people who did not read the book, the movie would have been good and create tears but for those who did read the book an upset.
Posted by: Hayley Kallmann | February 16, 2010 3:47 PM
I have plenty of words to describe this book, but the one that made me loved it the most was: real. John proved how much he loved Savanna by buying a way to make Tim's life longer so his soulmate could continue with her "safe" and perhaps happy life. Can you guys imagine how painfully it was to sell all the coins that his father colected for so many years for paying for something that he wasn't sure that would cure Tim? He was brave just like he was at the war. His choises made him loose the love of his life but he never lost his integrity. I loved the book because the handsome boy dind'd stay with the pretty girl at the very end, just like in real life happens the most. The movie stole this true. But I have to say aren't the happy ends that make the movie sell? And the movie is based on the book, the director can change little things to make his movie a huge sucess. And Channing Tatum was amazing in the movie, he got exactly how John was. And Amanda is Amanda, is not for no reason that she is making so many movies in so short time, she became an actress, a really good one. As a conclusion there may be one reason to not read the book (it shows what you don't want to read and belive) or to not see the movie (it's another romance made to make you cry), but there are lots of reasosn you should.
Posted by: Ananda | October 11, 2010 8:08 PM
The story line was great but when amanda writes the last letter to john saying that it was over. That she got engaged to someone else makes no sense. The person she marries ( cant even remember his name) because she felt bad for him is just dumb. All the movie did is leave me baffled on the decisions that amanda made. Thats just my opinion
Posted by: Michael kiernan | March 7, 2011 3:41 PM
I loved this movie but I'm tired of movies, where the military uniform is not worn appropriately. Please do something about that for future movies.
Posted by: Luis E. Guzman Jr | March 27, 2011 3:18 AM
Good movie to suck teens into the military. May actually provide some stress relief for those already sucked into the military. They got no life other than that 18 hour visit home...before the return (maybe in a 6ft box)
Posted by: guntoter | May 29, 2011 11:21 AM