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 So
much hype about the 16-magazine-worthy hunkiness of actor Channing
Tatum. Tatum, buzzed about as one of Hollywood’s hot young things since
his breakout turn in 2006’s Step Up, is clearly not a bad looking feller
but didn’t really strike me as very much more. That hype attempts to
validate itself in Tatum’s first foray as a romantic leading man with
Dear John. Too bad even his insistent attractiveness cannot elevate the
film past Harlequin romance schmaltz.
Directed by Lasse Hallström (- who knows a thing or two about casting
stunning male stars e.g.: Johnny Depp in 2000’s Chocolate and Heath
Ledger in 2005’s Casanova) this adaptation of a Nicholas Sparks
novel is surely meant to grasp the same viewers who devoured 2004’s The
Notebook, another Sparks story. John Tyree’s leave from the Army is
spent back at his old beachside stomping grounds, surfing, turning
golden brown and keeping to himself. Little does John know that his
impulsive aid to a fetching blonde damsel in distress will result in far
more than a run-of-the-mill summer romance. A pampered girl from the
right side of the tracks, Savannah’s interest in the handsome, quiet
soldier goes deeper than their obvious physical attraction. The
thoughtful, curious girl breaks through John’s defenses and quickly
becomes part of his shut down world, even caring for his autistic
father, who gives Savannah a direction for her life. The life Savannah
pictures is one with John, who only has another year to serve and the
pair pledge to write to each other as frequently as possible until they
can be together once more, when a terrorist attack on the United States
forces John to reconsider his time in the military and his promises to
Savannah.
Boy
meets Girl. Boy falls in love with Girl. Boy loses Girl. Will Boy
ever get Girl back? The start of Dear John is achingly dreamy and
romance-drenched and there is evident chemistry between the brooding
Tatum and the sylphlike Amanda Seyfried, making it easy for Dear John’s
audience to get swept away by how adorable this couple is. We want them
to make it despite their forthcoming travails. However, if the course
of true love ran smooth, we wouldn’t have much of a movie, so here come
the World Trade Center bombings and its aftermath as experienced by
John, a Special Forces sergeant facing danger and death around every
corner. The only things keeping John together are the missives from
Savannah which serve as much as therapy and confessional for him as
maintaining a connection to his far away love. Perhaps it’s too much
for Savannah to deal with and too much for the audience as Dear John
suffers badly from unfortunate pacing, many maudlin subplots and an
unfortunate plummet into cheesy schmaltz that kills the potential the
film shows early on.
The
Notebook, this ain’t; not that Dear John doesn’t try its hardest to
match the film that single-handledly shot the stock of Kleenex overnight
with all sorts of attempts at tear-jerking moments that never work. For
as winning a character as bright, sweet Savannah seems early on, she is
lost in the shuffle of time as the concentration of the film follows
John’s wartime service. Thus, we’re left with a hollow shell of the
adorable girl we from the movie’s beginning, the replacement being
vastly unlikable and given to inexplicable actions. There are so many
lucky coincidences that work in favour of the star-crossed couple that
Dear John begins to feel like some B-movie romance from the 1930’s,
where no matter what occurs in the interim, everything must work out for
the golden couple, even if it means the permanent removal of some
inconvenient characters. Cloyingly, even these are seen as more fodder
for their tortured romance. Oy. With its endearing stars and a
director who has proven he knows how to frame a romance, Dear John
starts off promisingly, then just falls to pieces by the second act,
devolving into a saccharine Lifetime for Women TV-movie. Despite how
beautifully and lovingly Tatum and Seyfried are captured by director
Hallström’s lens, Dear John is not worth seeing until it actually plays
on that cable channel.
~ The
Lady Miz Diva
February 5th, 2010
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