Let me take you on this journey. First thing I have to mention though before I delve into the plot of the film is the response to this film itself here in Tuscaloosa, AL. I remember the first thought that went through my mind was, "Holy smokes! This place is packed!" My girlfriend and I were a few minutes late to the showing and we could barely find two seats to sit in. I still cannot understand the appeal of this film and by so many different audiences. There were different groups of people there-packs of girls, couples, children, etc all to see this sob story about a love lost in a war. My theory is that either Channing Tatum has that type of star power that attracts droves of people out to the theaters, a lot people have actually read the book (by the way it is a New York Times best seller), or the Hollywood company has done a great job promoting the film. I think it is the latter. Apparently there has been a large influx of trailers promoting this film otherwise I don't think the film would have been as crowded as it was. I digress, but this film has clearly taken off like a rocket and there is a following that could potentially make this a blockbuster box office hit soon.
However, back to the journey. John Tyree and Savannah Curtis meet, become interested in one another after two weeks, become romantically involved, and are faced with life changing dilemmas. John has obligations to the military and Savannah to college. John goes to finish up his tour when 9/11 happens and shakes things up even more. John's fraternal brotherhood of the army all elect to sign up for another tour where John is stuck wanting to go home to Savannah, but also wanting to fight in the war along side his men. John comes home to visit Savannah for a weekend where he stumbles upon the fact that he had made the decision to return for another tour. Savannah becomes hurt by the decision unaware of John's decisions and the fact that her input was not considered. However, they work things out, have sex of course, and vow to make things work for the two more years they were apart.
I mention, the sex scene, merely because it is so cliche and dramatic. Cue the cheesy dramatic music, the dramatic scene transitions that bridges on the verges of soft core porn, and the train that is the sex scene. You can hear and see it coming a mile away.
Well, as you might have imagined it doesn't work that way. Savannah ends up breaking things off with John and marrying her childhood sweetheart. John becomes immersed in the military life even after nearly losing his life, only to come home to see the waning days of his father's life. The relationship between John and his father is cold up to this point where you finally see the two of them become emotional toward one another. As an audience member, you are saddened it took his father dying for the two of them to appreciate one another.
He meets up with Savannah again for the first time in years only to see that her husband is dying and she is running out of money to care for him. John steps in, sells his father's coin collection to buy Savannah's husband more time to live and breaks things off with Savannah who obviously wants to rekindle the lost relationship.
Channing Tatum, who plays John Tyree in the film shows a lot of versatility. After his role in "Step it Up" and as a fighter in "Fighting" (great movie title there, right?) I was fearful that Tatum would be type casted into roles where he would be forced to show his physical prowess, take his shirt off and get sweaty, which I'm sure the ladies love. Though Tatum does a pretty good job in the role his love interest Amanda Seyfried, who plays Savannah, falls short to me. Her on screen presence is not captivating which led me to become disinterested and the entire time you wonder if she will ever gain any color. Seyfriend is rather pale throughout the entire film. Other than a lack of real star power or glam, Seyfriend fits the role as your everyday "girl next door" who falls for G.I. Joe. Seyfriend is in fact however, a capable actress. She delivers in the role of Savannah, a heartfelt role and you do leave the theatre feeling bad for her after seeing this film. In her previous role in "Mean Girls" Seyfriend is seen as weak and easily manipulative; again a role I thought she would be molded into for Hollywood scripts for a time to come. However Seyfriend solidified herself as able to carry a romantic part.
The Tatum and Seyfriend romance is somewhat unbelievable in my estimation to the on camera aesthetics of things. Tatum's real occupation is a model and he outshines Seyfriend on many different levels throughout the film, acting and visually. As a guy it is very rare to see a film where you think to yourself that the male part is extremely more attractive than than female part. However, this is the case in this film. Tatum's character seems to be a way out of Seyfriend's league but the film wants you to believe that Seyfriend's character, Savannah, has an enchanting charm and personality that swoons John. The beginning romance is somewhat cliche' and almost unbearable as you feel as if you are being drawn into another chapter of "The Notebook" part Two. However after the commonplace love scenes and romantic dates, the movie actually becomes a little more interesting.
To my surprise, author Nicholas Sparks stays particularly impartial about any political views on the war and makes John's character a desensitized soldier who feels that war is an obligation. He exhibits no real emotion to the cause of the war, doesn't have any particular views on whether or not he supports the war or not, but that maybe by design. 9/11 is a very controversial subject. There is a scene where the family weighs in on the fact that the war will last longer than expected, but other than that there are no apparent references to whether or not the war is a necessary battle. The war is only there to act as the main antagonist of the film and is the cause of the separation of John and Savannah.
Channing Tatum, who plays John Tyree in the film shows a lot of versatility. After his role in "Step it Up" and as a fighter in "Fighting" (great movie title there, right?) I was fearful that Tatum would be type casted into roles where he would be forced to show his physical prowess, take his shirt off and get sweaty, which I'm sure the ladies love. Though Tatum does a pretty good job in the role his love interest Amanda Seyfried, who plays Savannah, falls short to me. Her on screen presence is not captivating which led me to become disinterested and the entire time you wonder if she will ever gain any color. Seyfriend is rather pale throughout the entire film. Other than a lack of real star power or glam, Seyfriend fits the role as your everyday "girl next door" who falls for G.I. Joe. Seyfriend is in fact however, a capable actress. She delivers in the role of Savannah, a heartfelt role and you do leave the theatre feeling bad for her after seeing this film. In her previous role in "Mean Girls" Seyfriend is seen as weak and easily manipulative; again a role I thought she would be molded into for Hollywood scripts for a time to come. However Seyfriend solidified herself as able to carry a romantic part.
The Tatum and Seyfriend romance is somewhat unbelievable in my estimation to the on camera aesthetics of things. Tatum's real occupation is a model and he outshines Seyfriend on many different levels throughout the film, acting and visually. As a guy it is very rare to see a film where you think to yourself that the male part is extremely more attractive than than female part. However, this is the case in this film. Tatum's character seems to be a way out of Seyfriend's league but the film wants you to believe that Seyfriend's character, Savannah, has an enchanting charm and personality that swoons John. The beginning romance is somewhat cliche' and almost unbearable as you feel as if you are being drawn into another chapter of "The Notebook" part Two. However after the commonplace love scenes and romantic dates, the movie actually becomes a little more interesting.
To my surprise, author Nicholas Sparks stays particularly impartial about any political views on the war and makes John's character a desensitized soldier who feels that war is an obligation. He exhibits no real emotion to the cause of the war, doesn't have any particular views on whether or not he supports the war or not, but that maybe by design. 9/11 is a very controversial subject. There is a scene where the family weighs in on the fact that the war will last longer than expected, but other than that there are no apparent references to whether or not the war is a necessary battle. The war is only there to act as the main antagonist of the film and is the cause of the separation of John and Savannah.
In closing, the film made me want to read the book. The film takes some liberties that I feel hurts the story, or it may be that the story is not as good as advertised. I would give this film a C, and would not spend money going to see this film. Wait for the DVD.
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