John and Savannah meet over summer. Savannah on break from school and John on leave from the military. Things move quickly as they fall in love promising to stay in touch while John serves out the remainder of his enlistment (12 months) and Savannah continues with school. When 9/11 occurs their plans come unglued and their love is put to the test. Based on the novel from Nicholas Sparks (The Notebook) and written for the screen by Jamie Linden (We Are Marshall) What’s Eating Gilbert Grape director Lasse Hallström brings the story to life for the big screen.

Much like Sparks other book turned film, The Notebook, I felt like only half the film was really there. Linden’s lack of experience shines through on occasion which doesn’t help the film run smoothly; a beach scene where John meets an autistic child who usually doesn’t speak to strangers but happens to with him. It was such an unnecessary moment in the film and so overused in film that it appeared as nothing more then a weakness rather then a touching plot point. There are several moments of recycled plot twists, especially towards the back end of the film, that your desensitized towards the more emotional aspects of the film because it simply becomes predictable.

What I loved about the first half of this film is its approach to the budding romance between John and Savannah. In a thousand and one films like this one there is a formulated setting for romance. Boy meets girl, they fall in love, they get intimate, problems occur. Instead of rushing through the romance your given a very touching and very romantic view of the love between the two main characters, not by action, but by words via letters. The chemistry is powerful between them yet they share hardly any screen time during this point in the film. That in itself is an accomplishment. Of course once your reach the halfway point in the film it goes straight back to formula and I have to say feels very Notebook-ish. I discussed this after the film was over with people I knew who had watched and loved the Notebook and seen this film and there seemed to be agreement. You’ll just have to see the film for yourself to catch these parallels but that also took away from the film.

The acting in the film was touch and go. Channing Tatum, try as he might, simply can’t deliver his dialogue very well. He was able to emote perfectly where it counted but just dialoging with Amanda Seyfried came off poorly. Seyfried herself was actually excellent in the film  carrying herself and Tatum in their scenes together. Henry Thomas was great for the very few parts he had and Richard Jenkins was phenomenal as Tatum’s father with (or without) mental issues. As a whole the film just came off too long, to clichéd in various aspects, but it did have enough chemistry to make me smile and laugh. Sparks fans will flock to this one anyway but I would suggest a rental or if your die hard for something to do this Valentines Day you might check it out.