February 6, 2010
Review - " Dear John " - (in theaters) By Roland Hansen
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only in terms of her striking looks, but the character's kind heart, passionate streak and care free demeanor also made sure
that it wasn't only John falling in love with the girl, this middle-aged geek was too. Both actors shared a genuine chemistry
together and it was that vibe that would often save the film from itself and keep me invested to some degree.
Alas, the storytelling skills here were a mess and no amount of pretty visuals (loved director Lasse Hallström's eye, specially
the use of close ups), sweet montages of love at play or heart tugging guitar picking ditties could Band-Aid that. Our two
leads were often forced in situations that were poorly developed and solely dare to prompt phony drama. It made the actors
look bad (the random bad dialogue didn't help either). Even their surroundings came off as manufactured. Henry Thomas
and Richard Jenkins brought validity to their roles via their talent but their relationship with John rarely scratched the surface,
they were just there to plant obvious seeds for conflict to come... conflict that often fell short in affecting me. Furthermore,
the movie failed big time when it came to communicating the passing of time, the leads "growing up" (the film spans seven
years) and the ever growing tension between our two love birds as they are apart. Some of the key turns that arose could
have been avoided if our romantic duo just sat down and talked, like really talked and figured it out, sadly the film
wouldn't even give them that room.
And what was up with Savannah being out of the picture for so long down the road? If more time would have been spent
exploring what she was going through on her side of the wrestling heart, some of the late twists would have had some impact
instead of coming out of left field and leaving me cold. Lastly this one didn't know when to end, every time I thought it was
over, bump. another turn and here we go again...wrap it up already! Look I didn't read the book, so I can't comment in that
respect but I hope it does a better job at
conveying a fleshed out and honest story, than
this all over the place, lets not develop anything
and hope the audience goes with it anyways
feature film. I'm usually moved by a good
lovey-dovey movie, especially when the romance
goes wrong (like in my life)... I rarely was with
this one. I LOVED "The Notebook" so had high
hopes, and expectations, for "Dear John" - I was
sadly disapointed. "Nights in Rodanthe" was
spoiled by the ending - that one could have
been saved - I'm not sure anything short of a
total rewrite could have saved "Dear John"
You'll definitely have to walk out of this one
(although it does get close). Too bad, maybe
seeing the lovely Amanda's lovely breasts
would make watching the rest of the film worth
while.


Dear John
Directed by: Lasse Hallström
Starring: Channign tatum, Amanda Seyfried, Richard Jenkins, Henry Thomas
A buff surfer, pretty boy soldier on leave named John (Channing Tatum), falls
in love with gorgeous goodie-goodie type Savannah (Amanda Seyfried). They
date for two weeks till he goes back in the field. They both continue their
relationship via letters written to each other. Got to love long distance
romances... it of course goes bumpy.
I'm a sucker for a good love story (don't tell anybody); "The Bridges of
Madison County", "Love Story", "A Walk to Remember" & "The Notebook" are
some of my favorites within the genre. So I was hoping for some tissue
abusing good times with "Dear John", based on a novel by sap master
Nicholas Sparks (The Notebook and A Walk to Remember), sadly that didn't
happen. That's not to say the ingredients weren't there. The initial premise
showed promise, long distance relationships is something that many of us
have gone through and for a moment there the film succeeded in tapping into
the emotions that comes with that sort of courtship: loneliness, longing and the
pure joy that accompanies finally seeing your love one again, if not for a brief
moment.
The cast on hand did the best they could with the little meat they were given to
play with. Channing Tatum gave his best performance to date; subtle, intense
when he needed to be and affable, I couldn't help but like the dude and hope
the best for him. On her end uber-photogenic Amanda Seyfried, was basically
the incarnation of the girlfriend we all wished we had (well I wish I had); not
