DEAR JOHN (USA 2009) **
Directed by Lasse Hallstrom

Based on the book of the same name by Nicholas Sparks, DEAR JOHN is a love story or rather a story of love lost amidst a string of letters and miscommunication.

The film opens with soldier John Tyree (Channing Tatum), shot and recalling last thoughts – like a coin collection and finally his true love.  Flashback!  John is surfing and meets Savannah (Amanda Seyfried) by diving into the water when she drops her purse from a pier.  Other subplots involve John’s father (Richard Jenkins) behaving funny – he obviously has a disorder of some sort, and a mutual friend Tim Wheddon (Henry Thomas) with an afflicted son.

DEAR JOHN is the kind of film that moves at a snail’s pace with lots of brooding by the actors.  Tatum unfortunately is stiffer than an ironing board with his acting and his emotional scenes are most embarrassing especially when contrasted with his romantic interest played by Seyfried who is so good.  Seyfried again steals the show from Tatum as she did the entire movie JENNIFER’S BODY from Megan Fox.

Written (Jamie Linden) and directed by males, DEAR JOHN is a chick flick told from a man’s point of view but still holds little interest for both sexes - unless you like this kind of romances like THE NOTEBOOK.