Review: 'Dear John' is nothing to write home about

Photo by Scott Garfield

Channing Tatum and Amanda Seyfried star in "Dear John."

Photo by Scott Garfield

Channing Tatum and Amanda Seyfried star in "Dear John."

Dear John

"Dear John" tells story of John Tyree, a young soldier home on leave, and Savannah Curtis, the idealistic college student he falls in love with ...

Rating: PG-13 for some sensuality and violence

Length: 108 minutes

Released: February 5, 2010 Nationwide

Cast: Channing Tatum, Amanda Seyfried, Henry Thomas, Richard Jenkins, Scott Porter

Director: Lasse Hallström

Writer: Nicholas Sparks, Jamie Linden

More info and showtimes »

“Dear John,” starring the photogenic Channing Tatum and Amanda Seyfried, starts promisingly enough in terms of the romance genre: Hunky, soft-spoken soldier at home on leave meets intense, free-spirited and unattached gal — the kind who’s way too self-actualized to be actively shopping for a boyfriend.

They fall for each other anyway, of course, in a soothing yet whirlwind melange of South Carolina seashore scenes, beach barbecues, homespun lasagne dinners, soft Southern accents and sunset-washed moments. He goes back to the Army, she returns to college, and they anxiously wait for his enlistment to end in a series of letters that inspires the movie’s title.

And then 9/11 happens.

So far, so good, at least in the world of movies based on Nicholas Sparks novels, in which the introductory cheeriness of perfect love casts a golden hue. The test comes, however, when the conflict in the story arises. There has to be some barrier thrown in the path of that love, of course. How that conflict manifests itself makes the difference between engaging melodrama and sappy, sopping weep-fest.

“Dear John,” unfortunately, veers more toward the sappy side of things. Director Lasse Hallstrom’s gentle, solid beginning crumbles into a narrative mess.

I felt particularly sorry for Seyfried, whose character is pretty much abandoned in terms of screen time and motivation halfway through the film. Her Savannah comes across more as pitying jerk than anything else. No wonder Tatum’s John, who feels compelled to stay in the Army because of patriotism and peer pressure, is mystified at her behavior.

Yet the movie overall feels wobbly, as if Hallstrom never felt comfortable with its shape and tone. I suspect the listless ending might irk even hardcore Sparks fans.

“Dear John” might come in a pretty envelope, but what you find inside is nothing to write home about.

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