Get Your Hankies Out ...

Rating: 4/10 (25 November 2012)

... and stick them in your mouth to stifle your yawns because if you're not wiping the tears from your eyes due to the syrupy clichéd seen it all before romantic drama then you'll definitely be bored by the way the story is told and shot
Much of the film's problem is the way it's shot and framed . DEAR JOHN isn't really film that you confuse to being a TVM because the production values are too high . Nevertheless the shot length of each scene seems overlong and the camera angles are extremely flat almost as if director Lasse Hallstrom doesn't know what to do with the camera . You can understand that perhaps he's trying to let the performances drive the film or the character interaction but a director needs to do more than point a camera in the right direction
There's a story here somewhere featuring nobility , courage and self sacrifice and national duty taking precedence over love . But it's fudged somewhat and is curiously uninvolving . It's also difficult to think who the film might appeal to because women will be put off by the war scenes while guys will be put off by the long dull talky sickly sweet scenes. I know I was