Dear John

Director: Lasse Hallstrom
Cast: Channing Tatum, Amanda Seyfried and Richard Jenkins
Releasing in cinemas: 4 March 2010
Rated: M

Hallstrom’s old style romance with lofty minded lovers

Sometimes directors shoot their bolt in a masterpiece film, then cheerfully tread water from that point on. Perhaps that's case with Swedish director Lasse Hallstrom, who directed the impressive My Life As A Dog back in his own country but has seldom equalled it, especially since being in America. His latest project, Dear John, fails to greatly excite with Jamie Linden’s predicable adaption of yet another of Nicholas Sparks’ popular novels. At least this is not the blatant wet hanky of the earlier Sparks adaptation The Notebook - this time there’s less need of tissues.

In the halcyon haze of Spring on the shores of Carolina we meet John (Channing Tatum) a reticent lad from a single parent home where his possibly autistic dad (Richard Jenkins) is even more reclusive. John happens to be a special forces soldier on leave and when he does a good deed for a local lass, the idealistic college student Savannah (Amanda Seyfried), soon they’re a number. Warm-hearted Savannah (an object lesson for Pollyanna) doesn’t drink or smoke, and builds houses for homeless families in her spare time. She even manages to weave a spell on John’s coin-collecting taciturn father. A couple of dissenting incidents shake the happy relationship - there's a bit of a punch-up between John and some of Savannah's friends, and John takes it badly when Savannah timidly suggests his father might be autistic.

Sorting out those minor ruffles lets the the young couple enjoy the passing days of John’s leave. Life ahead seems a bed of roses. When John has to return to his unit overseas, the couple promise to write each other on a daily basis, being very much in love. In two years John will return and they’ll be together forever. That’s if 9/11 didn’t occur, increasing John’s tour of duty. The dreaded 'dear John' letter isn’t far away, although that’s not the end of story.

Amanda Seyfried (Mamma Mia!) ‘a girl next door’ type seems warm enough in the role of Savannah, managing to squeeze some emotion from the buttoned-up Channing Tatum (G. I. Joe). Neither exude any special charisma although it’s unfair to say they’re not pleasant to watch. Their scenes together, while suitably effective, leave the most moving farewell in the movie to John and his father quietly played to perfection by the reliable Richard Jenkins (Burn After Reading) with a nod to Dustin Hoffman.

Hallstrom, stuck with his ‘goody two-shoes’ characters, has trouble in making them believable in today’s world. Why does a fine director like this bother with such routine material; he’s capable of much better with his mastery of actors and especially children. Here a rather heavy-handed approach to this fanciful romance doesn't really gel, although he manages to achieve a couple of memorable scenes. The ending is a little too glib and perhaps not the original one.

You may feel (as I did, looking at my watch a couple of times) that the film runs too long. On the positive side, the cinematography captures the youthful pleasures of a spring vacation by the beach; highlighting the rather innocent beach parties and fun in the sun. It has an old-fashioned feel about it, which isn’t all bad.

The film seems to be aimed squarely at a young female audience who feel deep affection for this type of romance with its by-gone values and handsome romantic leads in idyllic beach locations. For that target group it should do well - the older and wiser may have reservations.

John Bale