Dear John **½
Adaptations of Nicholas Sparks novels are just the kind of films that separate most film critics from the average moviegoer. Past Sparks adaptations such as A Walk to Remember, The Notebook and Nights in Rodanthe proved relatively successful at the box office but were derided by critics who considered them unsophisticated Hollywood fluff. And the same is true of the latest Sparks story to be brought to the big screen, Dear John. As expected, on its release in America critics responded with a collective yawn, but at cinemas it proved to be one of the most popular Sparks adaptations yet, almost doubling expectations on its opening weekend, even if less than spectacular legs in the following weeks suggest that cinemagoers too may not have been all that impressed by this one. So, how good is Dear John really? After all, star Channing Tatum is not exactly known for being either a convincing or charismatic actor, and director Lasse Hallström’s track record has been somewhat hit and miss as of late, his last film Hachi: A Dog’s Tale lacking in several key areas.
A young soldier, John Tyree (Channing Tatum) is home on leave when he has a chance encounter with idealistic college student Savannah Curtis (Amanda Seyfried). When Savannah’s bag falls from a pier into the sea, John impulsively jumps after it. Touched by John’s chivalry, and intrigued by his brooding good looks, Savannah finds herself falling passionately in love over the course of two magical weeks and also gets to know John’s lonesome father (Richard Jenkins). When John is shipped overseas for his next tour of duty, Savannah writes asking him to tell her everything that happens to him: “That way we’ll be with each other all the time”. Over the next seven tumultuous years, the couple is separated by John’s increasingly dangerous deployments. While meeting only sporadically, they stay in touch by sending a continuous stream of love letters overseas – correspondence that eventually triggers fateful consequences.
Dear John is a film that boasts one truly excellent performance, not from either of the leads but from Richard Jenkins who, as John’s Autistic father who is incapable of showing emotion, completely convinces in a truly sincere and believable performance of a character with Autism that is much more restrained than some of the more over the top portrayals of characters with the condition that have been seen in other films. It’s really saying something that Jenkins playing a character who cannot show emotion still shows more emotion that leading man Channing Tatum. Tatum is woefully miscast as John, his miscasting virtually ruining what could have a pretty good emotional drama. His ‘acting’ ability is a vacuum of emotion and charisma with him displaying the same virtually blank stare throughout the entire film and it is rather to see how anyone, especially Savannah, could be so easily charmed by his character. Of course, the target audience – teen girls – won’t care too much about Tatum’s inadequacies as an actor, they will probably just be happy that he gets his shirt off several times. Clearly, Tatum’s casting is more for purposes of eye candy than acting ability. He may look the part as a soldier but looking the part does not make for a good performance. Unfortunately, the lack of emotion on Tatum’s part virtually destroys any chemistry that could have existed between the characters of John and Savannah which, in turn, makes for many scenes that seem dull and lifeless. It’s a real shame as Amanda Seyfried is really quite delightful and gets all the emotions just right. Sadly, a one sided chemistry is no chemistry at all and no sparks (sorry, couldn’t resist) fly between her and Tatum at all. In addition to this lack of chemistry, another major flaw of the film is that Tatum gets far more screen time than either of his co-stars, thus robbing of the performances that are actually good for substantial amounts of screen time. When the focus is purely on John it is really hard to care much about what is actually happening. While Tatum is the thing that really ruins the film, though, the inferiorities of the overall product cannot be blamed entirely on him. At times the film is too dull to really engage the attention and events do seem to drag in some segments, notably the ones where the focus is only on John. The writing is decent but doesn’t really spark (sorry, last time) with quite a sweet and moving story being let down by an absence of memorable dialogue, a feeling of disjointment and a strong degree of predictability, even if the plot does veer off in some slightly unexpected directions late on. On a positive note, however, the characters are mostly quite well developed and the way the film tackles the issue of Autism is sensitive without seeming preachy or out of place. Additionally, the inclusion of a 9/11 element within the story doesn’t detract from the main focus of the film and ultimately feels more natural in its inclusion than in a certain other film that was in cinemas recently. The overall execution of the film, though, is decidely average, with this being far from Lasse Hallström’s best work and the overall product being rather forgettable. So, all in all, Dear John is a romantic drama that is not without promise but the miscasting of Tatum in the lead role combined with merely satisfactory direction from Hallström makes for a film that could have been great but is instead mediocre.
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Review by Robert Mann BA (Hons)
© BRWC 2010.
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