Predictable, wooden and uninspiring

Rating: 1/10 (7 July 2006)

This movie reeked of a large-scale Mandy Moore advertising campaign. (With several songs by Moore.) Moore's acting has little range and her character (Jamie Sullivan) didn't seem like a real person with real emotions. Rather, her portrayal of Jamie is wooden and Moore almost seemed to be reading predictable, stilted dialogue from a cue card.
Shane West plays troubled youth, Landon Carter, part of the high school's popular, yet rebellious crowd. He's a typical misunderstood, tough guy with a heart of gold. Unfortunately, West's portrayal isn't believable. He comes off as more of a metrosexual, tough guy wanna-be. (The name Landon itself seems more fit for "The OC".)
The love story between the Jamie and Landon is clearly forced. Whether it is due to bad writing or bad acting, we never really care about the characters. Also, "A Walk to Remember" offers countless cringe-inducing lines. This is a typical case of the dialogue working better on the page than on the screen as spoken by an actor.
Everything in this movie is cliché. (From the slang to the overly-used "high fives".) The "touching" moments lack poignancy. And the moments that could really illicit emotion were mishandled or missing from the film. The films finale is anticlimactic and the resolution is unsatisfactory.
Aside from that, it's hard to tell what audience the writer is trying to target. On its surface, the film seems to be aimed at high schoolers with its liberal use of mild profanity. However, the story plays off as more of a Nickelodean production meant for 13-year-olds.
One perplexing point to note: the film never makes it clear what the "Walk to Remember" is. There are several possibilities, but we never really see any particularly memorable "walk". Overall, "A Walk to Remember" is forgettable and uninspiring. This film rates as one of the worst I've ever seen.