Dear John

Well, what can I say? Channing Tatum is a hunk. He can dance (and you know what they say about good dancers, harhar!), he can make you swoon, and even punch someone in the face for you. At least for the last part, his character in the movie can. Hehe.

Dear John is a story about a Special Forces Army Sergeant John (Channing Tatum) and a college student Savannah (Amanda Seyfried) falling in love during spring break. They carried on their relationship writing letters to each other, while she's at school and he's in Germany to finish his 12-month enlistment in the army. Surprisingly, unlike most long-distance relationships, it worked. Until 9/11 happened and John had to go back to war again.

Apparently, it's based on a Nicolas Sparks book, whose narrative I hear the movie was not very true to. Hell, when are you people going to get it? The book is never the same as the movie. They are two different mediums; what worked for the book might not work for the movie, so get over it. They can be both wonderful in their own way.

What struck me the most is the scene where John totally breaks down reading his letter to his father (Richard Jenkins) at his father's bedside in the hospital. It's probably the first time he opened up to his father after drifting apart for years. Tear-jerker. I felt both their pain—the pain of a father wanting to console his son, and the pain of a broken heart—right through the screen. And what's ironic about it is, "Two weeks together, that's all it took, two weeks for me to fall for you," Savannah said, before they went on with their long distance thing.

It takes a moment to fall in love, probably a second to break someone's heart, and exponentially more to feel the pain.


Dear John gets six out of ten for all of the above, especially for Tatum’s hot bod (Sorry!).


Postscript: Acting-wise, Jenkins did really great playing a man with autism. Tatum could be getting better. Seyfried needs to play more diverse roles or she’ll be stuck in rom-coms, and that would be a waste of talent and a pretty face.


*photo from allmoviephoto.com