Dear John
First loves are difficult. It’s new and exciting when experienced, but the aftereffects are pain and heartbreak. Thankfully, films allow viewers to see stories of those initial love encounters that are meant to last forever: Jack and Rose from Titanic. Bella and Edward from Twilight. Even Belle and the Beast. These give the heartbroken something to look forward to, and Nicholas Sparks has become a master at weaving these tales into epic stories of love and loss. His latest true love adaptation, Dear John, isn’t meant last forever... but it sure feels like it does.
With novels like The Notebook and A Walk to Remember, among a handful of others, already turned into films, Sparks has begun to corner the market. His stories provide the romantic inside of everyone to indulge in emotional porn of fantastical romances. Dear John takes the tried and true formula of a boy and girl meeting (in this case it’s John on leave from the military meeting Savannah while she’s on a prolonged Spring break) and then introduces a third party to make the waters a little rougher for the couple. Another obstacles also comes into play: the distance that separates the lovers while John is stationed overseas.
Unlike many of the classic love stories, such as Titanic and The Notebook, where you can’t imagine the central characters living happily ever after with anyone other than their current love interest, Dear John doesn’t offer that same reality. John and Savannah are from different worlds. She comes from one of privilege and philanthropy. He’s only known heartache with a mother who walked out as a child and an undiagnosed autistic father who was unable to express himself. She’s warm and inviting, while he’s closed off and emotionally stunted. There is no reason why this relationship should work.
What makes the film that much worse is that Sparks and screenwriter Jamie Linden only scratch the surface with the story. There’s no expositional depth to the film, which leaves the audience walking out of the theater having to draw their own conclusions to some of the film’s plot points. The whole last act of the film is a big question mark that paints Savannah as either a saint or someone who should be institutionalized--or perhaps both.
Channing Tatum and Amanda Seyfried do their best to make the film work. The chemistry between the two lights up the screen. But there is only so much that the actors can do if the material they are working with isn’t actually workable. By the time the relatively short 104 minute running time is over, you will think it has been quite possibly twice as long.
Tellingly for a romance, the film is at its best when it doesn’t focus on the lovers. Richard Jenkins plays John’s father, and the moments he shares with both Tatum and Seyfried are some of the quietest and most tender in the entire film. Jenkins is understated in the role, making it that much more effective. There’s always something at work on his face and in his head, even when the words just don’t seem to be able to come out. The final scene between Tatum and Jenkins is the only one in the film that should coax tears from viewers.
Tatum, in his third military role, fits the role of the emotionally stunted John well. Director Lasse Hallstrom is able to spotlight the brooding aspects of the actor’s portrayal, while also brightening up his sometimes wooden delivery. For her part, Seyfried proves that she is primed to be America’s next sweetheart. With a winning turn in Mamma Mia, Seyfried endeared herself to audiences. Following it up with this project cements her status as the girl next door; seeing her in a romantic comedy can’t be far off.
Dear John will play to those hopeless romantics that will take any schmaltzy thing they see and eat it up. Anyone else who attempts to the view the film might want to schedule an appointment with the dentist to check for cavities.
