It looks like Nicholas Sparks may prevail again at making us grab for those tissues in the movie theater.
Author of the novels “A Walk to Remember” and “The Notebook,” Sparks’ newest on-screen love story is “Dear John,” his fifth book to be adapted into a Hollywood movie.
“Dear John,” directed by Lasse Hallstrom, it is the story of a young soldier, John (Channing Tatum) who meets college student Savannah (Amanda Seyfried) while on leave from his U.S. Army special forces unit. The two have a whirlwind two-week romance before John has to return to his unit. In that time, they decide to keep in touch by sending heartfelt, handwritten letters to each other. Just as John is about to complete his tour of duty, the attacks of Sept. 11 happen, and he patriotically commits for another two years, testing the strength of their relationship.
Kissing in the rain and a surfing, shirtless Channing Tatum aside, “Dear John” found a way to enthrall its audience’s hearts, reminding us once again why we appreciate Nicholas Sparks’ talent in writing love stories.
Channing Tatum and Amanda Seyfried took time to talk to The Carroll News about the film in a phone interview.
“[‘Dear John’] is a little different from a lot of [Sparks’] other books,” said Tatum. “I think it has a little more bite to it maybe just because the content matter is very relevant right now.”
Set during the time of the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks, the film allowed its audience to relate to what the characters were experiencing on that fateful day, and the years that followed.
With a war and distance working against them, Tatum and Seyfried do a good job in developing their romance; but, the film failed when it came to communicating the passing of time and showing the leads growing up (the film spans seven years, but no dates were shown aside from the beginning and Sept. 11).
And as the film progressed, it started to dwindle in showing both sides of the romance. I began to wonder why Savannah was out of the picture for so long.
Seeing Tatum donned in a U.S. Army uniform was probably enjoyed by the audience, but if there wasn’t going to be an equal showing of both sides of their separation on film, the late twists come out of nowhere and leave the audience confused and frustrated.
The bright spots in the film came not only from Channing’s beautiful performance portraying his relationship with his father, but also his ability to captivate us through voice-overs of his written words to Savannah.
It might make the audience begin to think less of e-mail, Twitter and texting, forms of communication that don’t compare to the visceral emotion conveyed in a hand-written letter.
On writing love letters, the leading stars of the film reflected on the importance of a written letter; Seyfried used one from her past to inspire her throughout her role.
“I got a love letter, that’s something I still keep really near and dear,” said Seyfried. “It was the most romantic thing anyone’s ever written me.”
As if “The Notebook” didn’t raise viewers’ romantic expectations high enough, this film has set the bar higher with the notion of love in the form of written words.
“Especially for guys, I think if you haven’t written a love letter in a long time, you don’t have to sit and mail it, just write whoever your loved one is, write her something and you’ll be amazed at the reaction,” said Tatum.
Letters weren’t only sent to the lovebirds in “Dear John.” John finds a way to work out his estranged relationship with his father (played by Richard Jenkins), through his words, in what was probably the best scene in the film and Tatum’s best performance yet.
“I do a scene with [Jenkins] in the hospital, and I owe that entire scene to him because it’s a very emotional one, something I haven’t had very much experience with in my career,” said Tatum. “He was just so there for me.”
However, the relationship between John and his father has the strength, but not the time to deviate from the connection forged between John and Savannah and the complications they must endure in the final stretch of the film.
Readers of the book may believe they know the ending, but Hallstrom tweaked a few things to make for what Tatum described as “adding another page to the book.”
“In the book it’s a little sad at the end and Sparks’ leaves it a little open-ended,” he said. “We just took it a little step farther and added a little hope at the end.”
As much of a chick flick as it may seem to be, “Dear John” is not a film you’d want to miss — if anything, it might spark an interest in writing.
Chances are if you find yourself wanting to write a letter to a loved one (you don’t even have to send it), “Dear John” will be the reason why.
