Directed by you and I.

Rating: 5/10 (14 January 2006)

What portion of the ultimate makeup of a Hollywood product is driven directly by the viewer? An interesting topic for debate, and this film has a lot to say within the context of that debate.
One can easily see what happened here. The end is so obviously incompatible with the rest of the story it jars. We suddenly have this business about love's miracles and God. The book this film was based on has no death, a detail which test audiences will subconsciously sniff out nearly every time. And I believe that's what happened here.
Try to quickly think of a modern film drama with no instance of death within. It's not that easy a task. That's because as the lineage of film progresses, more and more is demanded by the viewer to qualify a movie as engaging drama. Death lends a tone of seriousness that is nearly prerequisite these days. This tacked on variation of the original ending was clearly (at least partially) created in our own imaginations, that of the viewer.
So what we end up with is a film that is ostensibly about love, inwardly about memories that ends with an incongruous statement about God, via beautiful death. The love element is provided by our book's author (Sparks), the memory slant by the filmmakers and the ending thanks to you and I.
A side note: The overly sugared down tone of the film has been criticized as too safe and wholesome, but it works effectively for me considering that these memories are from the minds of the elderly and presented as an elderly person might wish.