ineffective, not entirely convincing

Rating: 3/10 (17 December 2011)

When I was introduced to this movie by a family member of mine, I had a few concerns. None of the other Nick Sparks-based movies out at the time were really my cup of tea, but I decided to give this movie a shot, anyway. I can now say that it would have been better to overlook the movie entirely. What could have been a very emotionally charged and powerful film failed to do so because of a few key factors. First of all, gorgeous though he is, Channing Tatum simply can't act. You can tell the wonderful Amanda Seifreid desperately floundering to salvage any tenderness in the love scenes that wasn't beaten down on by Tatum's imposing presence. The lack of chemistry between the characters was a real turn-off. Also, too many small plot lines and points of interest were carelessly shoved into the plot without a second thought from the directors. SPOILER: Autism, 9/11, death, old age: each one is placed in the plot without having it really go anywhere. Large parts of the script seemed as though the writers didn't really know what to do, so the scenes in question just become awkward. I had never really cared for movies based on Nicholas Sparks novels, and this movie has confirmed that. I wouldn't recommend it to anyone with a short attention span, because it drags terribly in certain parts, most especially the end.