Not what I expected at all. Really don't bother

Rating: 4/10 (12 May 2010)

I wasn't particularly looking forward to this film, yet I did like The Notebook, a film also along the same lines and by the same author. The reason The Notebook works is that it tells a story of love and human emotion over the course of a lifetime- something not really done by many films, but not just that, it's a heartwarming film. It's not necessarily realistic, and yet it's the story of true love above and beyond all else, something most couples like to relate to. The problem with Dear John was not the storyline. I thought the story was very appropriate, given the circumstances the armed forces find themselves in at the moment and I was intrigued by the situation. The problem was thus, apart from the war and a couple of other things throughout the film nothing much happens. The problem is lack of plot. The Notebook was a story about a man telling a story about lovers, which worked because it was interesting and there was always a sense of mystery. In the case of Dear John the story is virtually none existent. They fall in love, he leaves, and that's just the set-up, and it takes a while for that to get going, after which nothing much of any interest happens. It is nowhere near as emotional as The Notebook, mostly because the characters in Dear John just aren't as likable, I actually started to find one in particular very annoying. The acting isn't great in Dear John either, in complete contrast to The Notebook. I have already mentioned that The Notebook is the definitive story about a story above and beyond all else. In the case of Dear John, I just wasn't feeling that at all. It was actually very depressing at times. The Notebook deals with one very difficult subject, yet I think it does it very well, Dear John just made be think- why go to see thins film? You will get nothing out of it, and the ending, whilst realistic, is not satisfying at all for the genre. I did enjoy the subplot about the boy's autistic father, whose acting is the one good exception. If you want to see a story about autism though you watch Rain Man, not this. The only people I can see enjoying this is a very few girls between the ages of 12 and 15 maybe. Otherwise it is an extremely pointless experience.