A very touching movie.

Rating: 9/10 (25 July 2003)

First of all, I want to preface this review with the following disclaimer: I am not a 14 year old girl who is crazy about Mandy Moore and waiting for a knight to carry me off to his castle. I am a 29 year old male with a real job and life. In fact, when I first saw this movie, I barely knew who Mandy Moore was. I consider myself fairly well educated in the arts, having studied primarily theatre design, but film and music as well, in college.
Regardless of the technical merits of the directing or the script, this is the first movie to actually get to me emotionally in years. I simply fell in love with Jamie. To portray a such a character in a manner as to make her real and believable took real talent on the part of Mandy and real guidance from director Adam Shankman. Her "goodness" could have easily been taken over the top. Also to her credit, Mandy was sixteen when she took on this role. While this may have made it somewhat easier for her to relate to Jamie, often actors twice her age do not portray characters with this much depth. I believe she shows tremendous potential as an actor.
Landon, as played by Shane West, while showing tremendous growth within the film, appeared at times lack complex motivation. However, I feel that the character is still strong and that Shane is a fine actor. While the remainder of the supporting characters sometimes felt oversimplified and one-dimensional, I still feel that the actors overall did a fine job.
The real triumph of this film is the chemistry that exists between all of the characters, especially Jamie and Landon. This is evidence of a director who knows what he is doing and a well-written screenplay. While the film is by no means perfect, I barely noticed its imperfections because I was so involved in the characters and the story.
For any story to be considered great, it must take its audience on a journey. We must share in the discoveries of the characters and empathize with them. "A Walk to Remember" takes its audience on that journey.