Think
of "Dear John" as post-911 America lite; very lite. Where a film like
Kimberly Pierce's "Stop-Loss" (2008) drew you into an unaffected
universe of American military oppression its own troops, "Dear John"
wants to punish and blame its Special Forces soldier John (Channing
Tatum) via his head, heart, and libido. For as much blame as Nicholas
Sparks deserves for writing the soft soap novel that this heart-sleeve
mockery is based on, it's Lasse Halstrom's lacking direction that
perpetually pulls the audience out of the puffy romantic wartime
equation onscreen. Certainly, Lasse Halstrom films beautiful sun kissed
compositions that reek with the odorless endorphins of his love struck
characters. But it's not a style that serves Sparks's already affected
material. South Carolina's warm summer beaches provide the tiny waves
that John surfs on while visiting his autistic father (thanklessly
played by Richard Jenkins), whose coin collecting obsession substitutes
for a thematic throughline. A beach pier meet-cute with rich girl
Savannah (Amanda Seyfried) snowballs into a raging long distance
romance that gets a major monkey wrench tossed in when the attacks of
9/11 spell an extended tour of duty for John, who was on the brink of
getting out when the attacks occurred. John finds out the hard way that
love won't wait forever, and the audience gets treated to the most
bone-headed reaction shot of the decade, courtesy of Amanda Seyfried
upon hearing about the death of a loved one. Even as weepy, "Dear John"
fall short of turning on the waterworks.
Rated PG-13. 102 mins. (C-) (Two Stars – out of five/no halves)
