Friday, February 05, 2010
A+E, Movies, Reviews

‘Dear John’: Return to sender

A ShortTakes review

“Based on a novel by Nicholas Sparks” always stirs fond memories of “The Notebook,” but alas, it’s usually an unreliable bellwether. “Dear John” may be better than “Nights in Rodanthe,” “A Walk to Remember” and “Message in a Bottle,” but it’s no “Notebook.”

Set in Charleston, it’s the love story of Savannah Curtis (Amanda Seyfried) and John Tyree (Channing Tatum). They meet in 2001, when she’s home on spring break and he’s on leave from his Special Forces unit.

During two mostly blissful weeks, Savannah hits it off with John’s reclusive father (Richard Jenkins) and John with the autistic son of her friend Tim (Henry Thomas), neither of whom usually talks to anyone. Savannah, already working on a Habitat for Humanity-type project, decides to become a special ed teacher.

John promises they’ll be together forever when his enlistment is up in a year, But then Sept. 11 happens, and he re-enlists. You can guess what comes next, because the movie’s not called “Dear Savannah.” The twists that follow are a little too contrived and the characters are too good to be truly entertaining. As they get even better, “Dear John” gets worse, drowning its sugar under maple syrup and sprinkling artificial sweetener on top.

Tatum is sincere, if not terribly expressive. Seyfried (“Mamma Mia!”) has the more difficult job, because a person’s flaws make them interesting, and Savannah doesn’t have any. Their chemistry isn’t perfect, but Lasse Hallström’s direction makes you think it is.

There was a lot of sniffling in the mostly-female audience at a recent screening. Maybe they should have gotten flu shots. I wept buckets at “The Notebook,” but remained dry-eyed through “Dear John.” 2.5 STARS—Steve Warren