Dear John (2010)

I am reluctant to write about this film because I was really looking forward to it.  It’s one of those movies where the trailer makes you cry, you know what I mean?  Then when they tell you it’s based on a novel written by Nicholas Sparks…the guy who wrote The Notebook well  how can you not be sold?  The Notebook is a film that left me saying "I will never know a love like that" as I left the theatre with puffy red eyes and equally puffy red lips.  I don’t know why that happens to me when I cry, somehow the lips and the eyes make a deal to look equally pathetic.  That out in the open I can most definitely say that I left this movie saying "I hope I never know a love like that"…and maybe that was the point?

I just felt a sense of lack midway through this film.  I felt like something was supposed to happen that didn’t and what ended up happening simply didn’t live up to my expectations.  It could be that I wanted to see a modern version of The Notebook and felt ripped off; or simply because all the passion and chemistry I saw between Rachel McAdams and Ryan Gosling wasn’t there between Channing Tatum and Amanda Seyfried. Now the latter two were believable as their characters but that thing between them just didn’t seem to be believable enough to sustain the rest of the film.  Or maybe it’s because if I was dating a guy in special forces like Channing Tatum I wouldn’t go off and marry my neighbour in order to feel "needed".  I don’t know, I just remember saying a whole lot of "grow up" through out the film.  And my partner in crime who watched it with me was equally let down.  Even the love scene was a let down and nothing compared to The Notebook.  Perhaps, it’s just that Nick Cassavetes and and Lasse Halstrom approach love stories in different ways; I really don’t know.  It’s a very realistic film in terms of the fact that the mistakes we make in life tend to last a life time and that people change and the nostalgia you have for romantic love is often based on a memory that is usually not applicable to the present. So, perhaps my dissatisfaction comes from the trailer that pitched me the fairytale and then when I saw the film I was faced with a harsh reality.  In the end I’ll blame devious advertising and nothing else. 

Final verdict:  If you are expecting The Notebook 2.0 don’t see it, if you have an open mind or love the book then try it out!

This entry was posted on Saturday, February 13th, 2010 at 8:44 pm and is filed under Drama, Romance. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed.