This is a tender, generous movie that likes its characters and presents them as real people, full of flaws and strengths.

an ambitious but ultimately ineffective debut endeavor.

The joyful confection is coated in a sparkly gloss, bright enough to gleam from the darkest, most cynical corners.

Through painfully honest and emotional moments, the movie becomes irresistibly relatable

Lasse Hallström, the Swedish director who gave us Chocolat (2001), Gilbert Grape (1993) and Hachi: A Dog's Tale (2009) is at it again - making chick flicks for guys. This means, unlike your stereotypical chick flick whose leading man is a hollow beefcakey stud with as much personality as the scenery, here we get a complex beefcakey stud whom the chicks can swoon over whilst the bros say "duuuuude he's cool."In this case the protagonist is "John" (Channing Tatum) who plays an Army Special Forces character who can kill you with a toothpick but has total control over his emotions. Until, of couse, he meets "Savannah" (Amanda Seyfried) over his 2 week furlough before going back to war.As you might guess, the story explores the ultimate long distance relationship as John completes his 1 year tour as a soldier while Savannah waits at home. Sounds boring? Well wait, there are complications. John's father is autistic and his mother abandoned them years ago. So John is forced to be the responsible one, but the whole war/love thing throws him out of whack.Meanwhile Savannah has a few secrets of her own (and I gotta admit I totally didn't see it coming). And on top if it all, 9/11 hits and this forces John to make a decision whether to stay with his platoon and most likely get his butt blown off, or retire once his initial tour is over. Oh, and the movie begins with John getting blasted by gunfire, meaning the story unfolds in a huge flashback leaving us wondering the whole time if John dies or not.This is a very sentimental flick, much like the other Hallström movies I mentioned, but it doesn't get sappy or predictable. In fact at least 3 plot twists took me by total surprise. And I'm talking like "whoa duuuuude I never saw THAT coming" surprise."Dear John" focuses on interpersonal relationships when duty comes into play - and I'm not just talking about duty toward your country (a cleverly woven parallel), but duty to parents, children and those who need help. This is juxtaposed against selfish happiness, or the storybook love. Pay close attention to the characters' choices & sacrifices, and how these choices are based on duty/selflessness rather than "getting the girl". I think that's what makes this a unique romance. Whereas most Hollywood romance flicks focus on the problems of 2 lovers, "Dear John" presents us with an ideal love that is complicated by external loyalties.The trademark of Hallström movies is some other issue (not just love) driving the characters, and that's why these films aren't sappy or predictable. Another trademark is is use of gorgeous scenery, in this case the beaches of Charleston SC. He achieves a very nostalgic beach feeling, even for those of us who have only been to the beach once or twice in our lives (see also his film "Safe Haven" filmed in Southport, NC)."Dear John" is a quiet, sentimental film, so don't expect action, car chases & robots. But it delivers a few tricky plot twists, so it's never boring. If you're not familiar with Hallström's style, I'd say it's artistic without being over-the-top artsy. Think of Kieslowsky (Blue, White, Red trilogy) or Wim Wenders (Paris Texas, Wings of Desire) or possibly even Steven Soderbergh (Sex Lies & Videotape, Solaris, Magic Mike) and you'll have a general idea of how this film feels.

Dear John is a movie about an Army soldier named John Tyree, who meets college student, Savannah Curtis, after he rescues her bag from the ocean. Within two weeks, they fall in love with each other. Savannah gets to meet John's father, Mr. Tyree, whom she observes has autism and John meets Savannah's neighbors and friends, Tim and his son who has autism too, Alan. After two weeks, Savannah goes back to college and John returns to the Army for a year. They agree to send letters to each other throughout the year of his tour. Right before John's tour ends, 9/11 happens and extends his tour. A few months into the tour, Savannah sends him a letter saying that she's engaged to someone else. John is extremely hurt and continues extending his tours until he's sent home because his father had a stroke and is in the hospital. His father passes away and John goes to see Savannah to get some closure. John finds out that Tim is the one she married and that he has stage four lymphomas. Savannah explains that she broke up with him to help Tim out and she couldn't bear the pain of not having John around any longer. John says goodbye to her forever and they go their separate ways. The movie ends with them seeing each other again and they hug each other. Since this is a romance movie, I think the basic message the film is trying to convey is that there will be circumstances that will keep lovers apart, but true love will always find a way. I would say that the film does convey this message in the romance between John and Savannah. In the movie, there were several circumstances that keep them apart. One of those circumstances is the fact that John was still in the army when they met, so they couldn't be physically together for most of the time and 9/11 occurred when John was still in the Army. Another factor that kept them apart was Savannah's marriage to Tim and Tim's cancer. Savannah felt that Tim needed her help, so she married him. Also, since Savannah and Tim were married, John and Savannah couldn't be together. In the end, though, Tim passes away, so Savannah isn't married anymore and they see each other again and hug. Since the movie ends with them hugging, it's assumed that they get back together and get married. My reaction to how the movie portrayed individuals with disabilities was overall positive. There were a few things that I noticed that may portray people with disabilities in a negative light. Fortunately, most of the time when it happens, Savannah is there to shed more understanding on the situation than John does. The first thing is the lack of person first language. Throughout the movie, the characters comment how John's father is autistic or that Alan is autistic. If the characters were to use person first language, they would have said "Alan has autism" or "Mr. Tyree has autism" because person first language puts the person first and then the condition. The second thing was also the part where John gets offended when Savannah tells him that his father has autism. He says, "You're saying my dad's retarded or something?" There are two reasons why John's reaction bothers me. First, he uses the word "retarded" which has become widely rejected to use in any context because people with disabilities used to be called retarded as an official term, but then people started using it in different contexts to mean stupid. Using the word "retarded" in place of the word "stupid" is offensive because it's insinuating that individuals with mental disabilities are stupid. Therefore, I do not agree with the choice to include the word in the movie. In the movie's defense, though, Savannah immediately responds to John's comment saying, "No, Alan's not retarded, John. He's autistic." I give the movie credit for making the distinction between "retarded" and having autism. The second reason is because John is offended that Savannah is saying that his dad has autism. Denial may be a common reaction to news like this, but his taking offense to it means that having autism is a bad thing. Having autism should not be viewed as bad, it's just another form of the human condition. The good part, though, is that John still loves his dad. The third part is when Savannah and John try to get Mr. Tyree to meet her parents, breaking his routine. After they start driving, Mr. Tyree can't go through with it and has to be taken back home. John's reaction is mostly annoyance because he blames his dad for ruining his only night in Charleston. John's feelings and reactions to Mr. Tyree's break down shed a negative light on people with disabilities because he seems to be blaming his father for not being able to make it to meet Savannah's parents'. This blaming is problematic because it's blaming him for something that he can't control. Fortunately, Savannah does point out that he tried, showing that he did want to go. I think that everything else concerning people with disabilities was good because it showed that they are people too. Also, Savanna comments on how people with autism seem to have a horse sense, meaning that they have good intuition about certain things. Her comment about people with autism having horse sense sheds a positive light on people with disabilities. I'm giving the movie a 6 because it was a good movie with an okay plot. I would say it's your typical, run-of-the mill romance that I might suggest watching once, but it's definitely not a movie that I would watch again. Also, it definitely wasn't as good as The Notebook because it didn't really have any incredible plot twists like The Notebook does, but overall, a decent romance movie.

After having read the book I did not want to see the movie, because I really did enjoy the book a lot. The movie was different from the book, but that is common when making books into movies. I did think that it was a good movie, but not my favorite. The movie is about a solider, John, who meets a girl, Savannah, while he is home from the war. They meet and spend two weeks together and fall in love. They seem to be perfect for one another. He then has to go back to active duty, but the two continue their relationship through letters. At home John's father has dementia and forgets many things, and it frustrates John. Savannah is very good with his father, and that is something that John loves about her. Savannah has a close friend, who she ends up marrying, Tim, who has cancer and Tim's brother, Alan, has Autism. All of these relationships are shown throughout the movie, and you are able to watch how they change as life events such as 9/11, deaths and deployment occur. I believe that a purpose of this film, and the message that this movie tried to convey was that you cannot take anything or anyone for granted. I believe that this movie really did a great job of conveying that. John took his father for granted, and when he eventually passed away he regretted being mean to him and not spending enough time with him. When 9/11 happened it showed how everyone took for granted how safe and protected our military truly keeps us. As for those in the movie that played the roles of people with disabilities, I believe that they were portrayed well. Tim, Savannah's husband who eventually was diagnosed with cancer showed how that can affect everyone in that persons life. Now he, Tim, relied heavily on Savannah to take care of Alan who has Autism. I think that Richard Jenkins did a great job portraying someone with dementia. It allowed the viewer to see how that person does not realize that they have memory loss, and also showed how frustrating and stressful it can truly be on relatives and those that are close to that person. I do recommend this movie to people who are interested. If you have already read the book, just be aware that it is not exactly the same, but it is still good in its own way.

When you speak about Nicholas Sparks, you either like his work or you don't like it at all. There's no in between. As it happens I like some of his work which include this beauty of a book. Yes, you heard it write! The movie is based on a book titled the same. While,the book is very descriptive about the relation between John and his father, you can't have that in a movie simply because it will just make it longer! Amanda does, one hell of a job and the chemistry between her and Tatum is just too good. I have to admit though, I loved the last scene of the movie where he is locking his bike and gives her THAT look! It's just eye-pleasing!I have now started finding better movies through www.flickstree.com. It not only suggests great movies to watch, it also tells where you can watch the movie online.. Highly recommended.