Channing Tatum is the sole reason to see this

Rating: 2/10 (11 February 2010)

Channing Tatum (She's the Man, Step Up) is the only reason to sit through this unbelievably awful movie. Without eye candy like him, this would absolutely tank. Expect to burst into embarrassing fits of giggles when the actors try very, very hard to make you feel sorry for them and endure the disapproving dagger looks of die-hard Nicholas Sparks fans in the process.
But what can you expect from yet another Sparks weeper? The popular novelist relies heavily on his trademark tragic love stories (A Walk to Remember, The Notebook), and in his latest effort Dear John, he laments about John Tyree (Tatum), a young marine who falls for Savannah Curtis (Mamma Mia's Amanda Seyfried), a too-good-to-be-true college co-ed, in the two weeks he's home on leave. They decide to pursue their long distance romance and he promises to leave the Army after a year. Alas, 9/11 occurs and he is forced to extend his service indefinitely. Can Savannah wait for him any further while he tries to avoid getting killed?
Even Oscar-nominated director Lasse HallstrÃ¶m (Chocolat, The Shipping News, The Cider House Rules) could not spin his magic with the terrible material he has to work with, and yet surprisingly, this movie has done very well at the tills. Go figure.