Reviewed by Annlee Ellingson
(February 2010)

Directed by: Lasse Hallström
Written by: Jamie Linden
Starring: Channing Tatum, Amanda Seyfried, Henry Thomas, Richard Jenkins

Dismissed by literati as genre novels, Nicholas Sparks’ romances nonetheless attract considerable filmmaking talent. His latest book-cum-movie, “Dear John,” has drawn esteemed director Lasse Hallström; young actors Channing Tatum and Amanda Seyfried, aiming to be taken seriously; and recently lauded industry veteran Richard Jenkins (“The Visitor”). The team behind and in front of the camera bring golden-hued professionalism and a certain gravitas to the project, if little originality or surprise.

On break for two short weeks in the spring of 2001 — he from the Army Special Forces, she from college — John Tyree (Tatum) and Savannah (Seyfried) meet-cute on a South Carolina beach. What follows is a whirlwind, if rather chaste, romance between the tough guy with a rough past and the privileged, idealistic Southern belle in a classic bad boy-good girl coupling. (I mean really good: Savannah doesn’t drink or smoke or sleep around; she befriends the autistic boy next door and builds homes for hurricane victims; her worst vice is that she curses — in her head. She’s sweet and beautiful and yet not the least bit annoying. John, on the other hand, is tall, handsome and brooding. And he surfs. Sold.)

When the romantic fortnight’s over, they promise to write to each other until they can be together again in one year’s time. Then 9/11 happens, and suddenly it seems selfish and shallow for John to go home when the rest of his team and his CO, who has a wife and kids at home, are determined to re-up.

Large swaths of plot are covered effectively in montage — both during the couple’s initial courtship and John’s time spent overseas (including Germany, the Congo and Afghanistan) — but little is seen of Savannah’s life at home. There’s a reason for that: Soon, the titular missive arrives, and John sees no reason to return. Ever. Even after he gets shot. It turns out that he’s not the only one who sacrifices love for greater responsibility, and the film serves as a gentle reminder of how destructive war can be, whether on the battlefield or home front.

What does finally bring him back to the States is “Dear John’s” secondary, tenderer, story. John’s relationship with his father (Jenkins) is strained, to put it mildly, until Savannah suggests that perhaps Mr. Tyree is an undiagnosed autistic. Suddenly his odd behavior — his agoraphobia, his single-minded attention to his coin collection, his insistence on making lasagna and only lasagna, on Sundays — makes sense.

Jenkins’ performance, like all of his performances, is sensitive and poignant, a lovely wrinkle in an otherwise slick romance, and the film culminates with the men’s reconciliation in a scene, deftly revised by screenwriter Jamie Linden, that’s as eloquent as it is touching.

Photo: Channing Tatum and Amanda Seyfried; copyright Dear John LLC, courtesy Screen Gems