A Look Back #9:
'A Look Back' is a place where 'Movie Freak 77' reviews old movies, which he considers them one of his favorite movies. Hope you will enjoy these reviews.
Do NOT forget to rate and comment on this post when you finish.
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| Official 'Dear John' Poster. |
One of the better "Nicholas Sparks"'s
book adaptation, 'Dear John' ranks among one of the best
romantic-drama movies made in the past few years.
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| "Channing Tatum". |
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| "Amanda Seyfried". |
In spring 2001, in Charleston, South
Carolina, 'John Tyree'(Channing Tatum) is spending his vacation. While surfing
and enjoying his time, fate makes him meet 'Savannah Lynn Curtis'(Amanda
Syfried) a college student on spring break. Right away a sparks is lit and an
unusual bond between the two of them is formed. They spend the remaining two
weeks together before 'John' return to the U.S. military to perform his duties.
Even with few glitches occurring, 'John' and 'Savannah' decide to constantly
write letters to each other in order for them to feel still connected and make
their time apart feel less difficult. But the love that they have for each
other may not be enough for their relationship to last. Torn between his love
for 'Savannah' and his military duties, 'John' must decide if balancing the two
issues is possible and whether he will be able to keep 'Savannah' waiting for a
long period of time. Other major characters include, 'Mr. Tyree'(Richard
Jenkins) 'John''s father, 'Tim Wheddon'(Henry Thompson) 'Savannah''s neighbor
and his autistic son 'Alan'(young played by Braeden Reed and teenager played by
Luke Benward). We also have 'Savannah''s friend 'Randy'(Scott Porter) and
'John''s U.S. militant friend 'Noodles'(D.J. Cotrona).
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| "Henry Thompson" and "Luke Benward". |
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| "Richard Jenkins". |
Ever since the first "Nicholas
Sparks" movie was adapted to the big screen, which was 'Message in a
Bottle' back in 1999, it has been a normal thing to witness every one to
three years a book being written and after that being adapted. And even with
the stereotypical route that all the stories usually take, these movies are
always a success at the box office seeing their small budget. However, ever
since 'The Notebook', the movies have been finding a hard time with the
critics. The main criticism is that these movies are all having the same cliché
story telling elements. Personally I have to slightly disagree. Yes these
movies are becoming similar in the general love story, tone and love feel, but
again same as 'Transformers' which is aimed for people to enjoy an
action popcorn movie, these romantic-drama movies are being targeted mainly to audiences(specifically teenage girls), who wants to enjoy a romantic-drama movie. Ultimately, 'Dear John' successfully checks most of the boxes that
makes a romantic-drama movie a successful one, but it must be noted that there
are various plot holes and improvements that can be done to further improve the
end result.
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| "Channing Tatum" and "Amanda Seyfried". |
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| "Amanda Seyfried" and "Richard Jenkins". |
Director "Lasse Hallstrom" is known
for his best work on the Swedish movie 'My Life as a Dog(1985)' and 'The
Cider House Rules(1999)', both drama movies and both allowed him to be
nominated for Best Director at the Academy Awards. "Lasse" knows how
to give the audiences drama, which in my opinion made him the perfect candidate
to direct this movie. His various use of shots, from wide during the scenery
scenes and focused during the conversation scenes, are in my opinion a perfect
combination for these "Nicholas Sparks" movies. The editing in my
opinion was done in a near excellent manner. And like all other
"Sparks" movies, the use of the spectacular views found in the
location they shoot is breathtaking and add a dramatic layer to the movie.
"Jamie Linden"('We are Marshall(2006)' adapted the screenplay
from the same named book, which was an average screenplay. "Jamie"
failed to use the various subplots to the main plots advantage, ultimately
failing to give more layers the romantic-drama. Composer "Deborah
Lurie"('An Unfinished Life' and 'Sydney White') provided us
with a beautiful soundtrack that surely elevated the level of emotions in a
perfect manner at the exactly right time, which is usually the case in many of
"Nicholas Sparks"'s adapted books.
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| "Channing Tatum" and "Richard Jenkins". |
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| "Amanda Seyfried" and "Channing Tatum". |
As in all the previous movies, "Nicholas
Sparks" likes to include certain elements, which I call "Sparks"
elements. The kiss under the rain, the love at first sight, the inclusion of
the beach in a certain way and of course the love scene are elements that were
eventually added to the movie in "Lasse"'s own personal manner. The
flow of the movie in my opinion felt great, yet the time given to the movie
felt to me a little bit constrained and time to establish some of the marginalized
subplots would have been appreciated. Many of the subplots that were addressed in
the movie were only scratched on their surface in terms of storytelling
potential they could've provided to the movie's depth. This depth was limited
to the main characters emotional ride and transformation even if
"Channing"'s character had more of this than that of
"Amanda"'s. The twist towards the end of the movie was a nice touch.
The only problem that must be addressed is that of the third part of the movie,
which is before the ending and the ending itself. The final act of the movie
felt to me a little bit rushed, but convincing seeing the direction to story
took. But the annoying thing was the ending, which was less than 1 minute and ruined the initial direction the movie took. Now doing my research, I read that
viewers who watched early screenings were displeased with the
original ending so the producers had to rush to shoot another ending. Looking
at it in that perspective one can see why it happened, but the ending was not
at all at par with what the movie achieved.
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| "Channing Tatum". |
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| "Amanda Seyfried". |
Part of a "Nicholas Sparks" movie
adaptation is to get two new, young and upcoming stars to take the lead roles.
And at the time "Channing Tatum" and "Amanda Seyfried"
represented exactly that. Before this movie, "Channing Tatum" was
known for playing the hunky dancer-action star, but with this a new adjective
was added to the list, which is dramatic actor. Sure a movie like this one
doesn't qualify too many, but when "Channing Tatum" took the role,
not many of us expected "Channing"'s ability to be able to give to
this character even more depth than the shallow one it already had. Moreover,
he was able to successfully allow us to witness the emotional transformation
that the character has, as small as it might be. "Amanda Seyfried" on
the other hand was able to give us as much as she could see the limited baggage
she had with her character. But one thing that must be given credit for was the
chemistry that "Channing" and "Amanda" were able to create,
seeing that many were doubtful this combination was going to work. "Richard
Jenkins" is amazing seeing the limited plot he got, while the other
supporting character provided little than what their characters needed to give
to allow the movie to move forward.
When comparing it with the remaining
"Nicholas Sparks" adapted movies and similar movie genre, 'Dear
John' ranks amongst the better ones, definitely.
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| Official 'Dear John' Poster. |
-Release Date: February 5, 2010.
-Starring: Channing Tatum, Amanda Seyfried, Richard Jenkins, Henry Thompson, Braeden Reed, Luke Benward, Scott Porter and D.J. Cotrona.
-Based on: 'Dear John' by Nicholas Sparks.
-Studio(s): Relativity Media, Temple Hill Entertainment and Screen Gems.
-Directed by: Lasse Hallstorm.
-Written by: Jamie Linden.
-Composed by: Deborah Lurie.
-Running Time: 107 minutes.
-Budget: $ 25,000,000.
-Box Office: -Domestic(US): $ 80,014,842.
-Foreign: $ 34,962,262.
-Ratings: -IMdb: 6.3/10.
-Rotten Tomatoes: 28%.
-Metacritic: 43%.
-PERSONAL RATING: 7.0/10.
-'Dear John' Trailer:
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