Film Reviews

Dear John

• Rating:
• Director: Lasse Hallstrom
• Starring: Amanda Seyfried
• Details: US/105mins 12A

Suffering from exactly the kind of problems as every other Nicolas Sparks adaptation, Dear John nonetheless could've worked if director Hallstrom had paced the movie like a movie - not a book. What he does is give us an overly ponderous hour of drawn out, dense relationship building between Seyfried and Tatum, then about twenty five minutes of them missing each other, and the rest of the time quickly, and sloppily, resolving all the issues that preceded John shipping off to war.
Channing Tatum is an actor who has made a name for himself through his enigmatic, yet overtly masculine presence; something his former Abercrombie and Fitch model looks have certainly helped him with. But he's developing into a fine actor, and like Brad Pitt, he may not get props for that until he "uglies it up", as it were. Seyfried is just such a sweet presence on screen, regardless of the role, which is lucky; her character here is given the heave-ho for a large part of the running time, while Tatum waits to hear back from her.
The story sees Tatum's Special Forces Solider meet Seyfried's do-gooding student while she's on spring break. Hitting it off pretty much immediately, a romance soon blossoms between the two. But Tatum's titular John must ship off with his unit soon, and the two can only have a long distance relationship until John's rotation ends in a year. But being that the movie begins in early 2001, you can pretty much guess from the beginning that John won't be back with his new missus anytime soon. They stay in contact by snail-mailing each other - hence the title.
There's a subplot here involving autism that's probably the most effective thing about the movie - besides the performances. John has an extremely awkward relationship with his father, with is both touching and genuine - thanks to the always excellent Richard Jenkins and Tatum. While Seyfried is seen as someone who just loves helping out the needy - paper thin characterisation ahoy! But credit to her, she's likeable and charming regardless, with a smile that lights up the screen.
Those who like their tearjerkers with lots of staring out into the sunset, and longing looks into space will probably love this. I just found it difficult to connect with characters who don't act in a way a real person would - pick up a damn phone for Christ sake.

Review by Mike Sheridan