Dear John, I'm breaking up with you. You're too mediocre.

Rating: 5/10 (25 May 2015)

Dear Viewer, I have to tell you the truth. I'm starting to think that author, Nicolas Spark is one-trick pony. There are tons of Spark's novels that get the cinematic treatment and they all mostly look like the same. He's essentially writing the same story over and over. Dear John is a great example of this. This movie doesn't stands out more than the others. You'll see a lot of his tropes, here, like settling in Carolinas, love letters, kissing in the rain, and most of all, somebody ends up, dying from some type of disease or disaster. This movie seems like a carbon copy of his earlier books. It's the Poor Man's "Notebook". Don't get me wrong, I still love author Nicolas Spark, and I love some of his novels, but I just wish, he wasn't so lazy. Some of his works, is becoming very repetitive. I want to see, something new from him. Not this. Directed by Lasse Hallström, the movie tells the romantic story of a soldier, John Tyree (Channing Tatum) who falls for a conservative college student, Savannah Curtis (Amanda Seyfried), while he's home on leave. Instead of getting out of the military when his time is up, John re-enlists after the terrorist attacks on September 11, 2001, out of civic duty. The long distance between them is shortened through a series of love letters they send to each other, but the time spent apart also begins to wear on their relationship. Can their relationship last, or will the years of separation, pull them apart? Watch the movie if you dare to find out! Without spoiling the movie, too much, the first thing to I like to say, is that, I really don't buy into these two characters being in love with each other. They don't seem believable. First off, they rarely spent any time, together. Technically, they only spent two weeks together, out of many long years, apart. That's pretty sad. Second off, the chemistry between Amanda Seyfried and Channing Tatum is pretty dull. Not only is, Channing Tatum's character kinda boring, Tatum delivers line, so wooden, that it's hard to believe, that Savannah loves him, anything else than his looks. Clearly, she didn't fall in love with him, due to his personality or morals. I don't blame her, Tatum does provides plenty of eye candy for the women and gay men, I suppose. Amanda Seyfried's character seem to have, more to do, than Tatum's character. She seem like a more well-rounded character. I like that she had emotional depth. I also love that Seyfried, not only act, better. She also sang, a song in the film, call "Little House'. Still, I don't buy into the fact that her character; Savannah is so selfless that she would marry a dying man that she doesn't love, due to pity. It seemed kinda ludicrous to me. That's way, over the top. At least, Savannah and John didn't cross the line with regards to fidelity in marriage. I'm glad, they resisted, in committing adultery. As a romantic movie, it is expected that Dear John may include some sexual content. However, the sex scenes are pretty tame. The violence in the film wasn't too bad. It barely show anything, graphic. After all, it's late 2000's PG-13. Not 1990's PG-13. The War on Terror subplot is questionable, at best. The movie doesn't dig deep into the political debate, about the war. It just serves as a backdrop. I spent the better part of this film, wondering, why John was serving in the first place. The movie portrays John as going to war, as his civil duty, but in the books, it's more about him, trying to help pay all the medical bills of his dying autistic father (Richard Jenkins). In many ways, it's confusing, but genuinely interesting. Was John doing this, for his autistic father or his country? We might never know. However, this bring one of the movie's most touching scenes when John reads his hospitalized father a letter. I love the coin twist. One thing that I really didn't get about the movie, is how only letters can be sent to John. The film screenwriter, Jamie Landen try to justify it, by just saying that he's in some far off desolate places where they don't have email, or phone calls, but I really doubt it. Most servicemen out there in Afghanistan, are able to receive emails or phone calls, easy; just like that. Yes, it's limited, but I really doubt, John wasn't able to talk more to Savannah than he was given. It seem a bit forced. Another problem with the film is the pacing. At 1 hour and 42 minutes, Dear John isn't that long, but it does drag at times. Then there's the big change toward the end that really anger me. The book ending is pretty alright, but the movie's happy ending is down-right sell-out. Honestly, the alternate ending seems more true to the spirit of the story. Overall: With more heartwarming and memorable love stories already captured on film, Dear John runs the risk of being forgotten, over time and I think it has.