The Difference Is...

Rating: Null/10 (1 March 2002)

A few weeks ago I went and saw this movie with my father. I really wanted to see the movie because I read the book a thousand times. I heard that the movie is much diffrent from the book, and that left me dismayed for awhile. But, I still wanted to see it. Let, me first say that Mandy Moore can act! I don't think anyone else could play the part of Jamie Sullivan with more heart than Mandy Moore did. And, Shane West is such a great actor, and he needs to be more recognized. Now, I have read tons of reviews, and lots of IMDb user comments, and people keep saying the same thing over and over again..."this movie was cliched." Yes, some aspects of the movie was in fact cliched. But, I think people are missing the one factor that seperates this movie from other teen oriented movies...it uses religion! Never before did I see a movie that portrayed religion as a good thing. I mean we have so many people in the Hollywood business belonging to this Scientology stuff that I think that everyone has forgotten God. Movies from the past have made fun of God by bashing catholism, and stereotyping other religions to a point where it makes America want to throw up! But here comes along a teen movie that holds it's moral values and reminds us that people somewhere out there still believe that God exists. The point of the movie was the Jamie was outcasted because her father was the strict pastor at a Southern Baptist Church. She held her faith strong and people made fun of her for that. She did'nt transform into this beautiful girl, she stayed true to herself. So thats why i dont get this pretty-ugly girl crap. Nobody in the movie said she was ugly..they just thought that being different is strange. I go to a Catholic school, and I guess everyone of us is strange. Especially to public school people. The point is I think you should see this movie because it is DIFFERENT in the sense that it reminds us of Christianity, instead of bashing it. Mandy Moore is a wonderful actress and she beats Britney in my book at acting. (I saw Crossroads and I almost threw up) By the way, even my southern Baptist dad cried!