  Channing Tatum and Amanda Seyfried star in Screen Gems' Dear John. |
Can a great cast rescue a mediocre yarn?
That seems to be the question with Dear John, a movie with a dubious story from weepmeister Nicholas Sparks — and terrific performances from co-stars Channing Tatum and Amanda Seyfried. If you’re 12 years old, you might think Dear John is the best. Movie. Ever.
Anyone older will probably notice else that, “He’s so dreamy!” and “She’s so beautiful!” are not really narrative essentials.
Dear John is a romance tale incorporating various elements of Romeo and Juliet, The Notebook and similar fare — star-crossed lovers, differing social stations, all that letter writing. Channing Tatum plays John Tyree, a Green Beret; Amanda Seyfried is Savannah Curtis, a college student whose family has a holiday house at the beach. He and she meet at the shore while he’s on leave.
They fall in love. He has temper issues. His dad collects coins and is obsessive/compulsive and may have Asperger’s. Her family is prosperous and she dreams of having a camp for autistic children one day. All this, plus smooching and much smoochy music.
He promises to be back in the United States in a year to see her graduate from university. More smooching. They promise to write letters. Write, write, write, write.
Then 9/11 happens. Uh, oh. Like many other soldiers, he feels compelled to re-enlist and is sent somewhere that looks a lot like Afghanistan. Nobody is happy about this, but they promise to keep writing to each other. Write, write, write, write.
The letters from her stop.
Then a letter from her arrives and it’s a "Dear John letter. Well, they’re all Dear John letters because his name is actually John, but you get the point — she has to break up with him. There are reasons why. There’s someone else. John is devastated. But he soldiers on. Ha, ha. Sorry.
Time goes by. He has to return to the United States. He visits Savannah. We shouldn’t really tell you what happens after that. Nothing.
Dangit! That just slipped out.
Dear John is a languorous exercise in youth, beauty and screen chemistry.
Seyfried and Tatum are perfectly capable of keeping still and staying silent, and both actors put in smart, understated performances. They’re about 1,000 times better than the material requires. Actually, there is no material, so the actors are the whole deal.
According to their director, Lasse Hallstrom, the lead actors also improvised here and there, which helps explain why their performances are so superior to the story they’re in. You will believe in their characters and their emotion, to the point where their love scenes might leave you feeling like a bit of a voyeur. We mean that in the best way.
(This film is rated PG)
More Movie Reviews
