The American melodrama captivated many with its thoughtfulness, competent play of actors and the moral side of the plot. Unlike its counterparts, “Dear John” reviews are excellent from viewers of all ages and ambiguous from critics. The script of the film is based on a real story set forth in a book by Nicholas Sparks.
The heroes are a man and a woman, whom nothing distinguishes from other people. What is so attractive in the relationship of these two people? Why are many viewers again drawn to revisit a story they already know? Maybe it was the actors who endowed the heroes with such a powerful charge of charisma and attractiveness?
Film description
The picture “Dear John” reveals the content throughout the entire viewing time. John Tyree has long been in the service of the US Armed Forces. Only one year is left, and he will be able to leave the army and get a family, boring work and immerse himself in the routine of everyday life, as many military men did, becoming civilians. In the meantime, he comes to his native land to his father. He brought him up himself, collecting expensive coins, and those copies that were found by his son, he saves with great care. The meeting of John with Savannah turned the whole vacation over and showed that happiness is possible, although it ends with separation.
The lovers understood that for 1 year the separation would be a difficult test, but surmountable. Since the post office is famous for its lack of discipline and ability to delay letters, they numbered their messages. Savannah always began to write with words that sound in Russian "dear John." If not all letters arrived, then thanks to the numbering, both quickly determined that some of them were lost. John literally breathed messages of his beloved. He lived from letter to letter, how office workers live from paycheck to paycheck.
Gradually, there were fewer letters, and September 11, 2001, which later became known to the whole world, was a turning point: John needed to serve another year, since his entire unit agreed to this sacrifice. But to remain in the army at this critical moment meant to lose a woman dear to her heart. This choice was even harder for John because of what was written in the last letter.
Dear John: The Story
For a 23-year-old guy, the service was not difficult, but he wanted to go home. After he met Savannah on the pier, the guy realized that now he would wait for the end of the service, as slaves wait for freedom. Savannah Lynn Curtis was a student who came to her homeland only on vacation, strolling near the ships, dropped her purse directly into the water. Valuable things were terribly sorry, but she would not have decided to jump herself. This was done by a passing soldier, he dived from a 4-meter pier.
Over the next few days, he met Tim, a friend of Savannah, as well as his son Alan. The boy has autism. When the girl finds out closer to John's father, the secrecy and isolation of his character very much reminds her of the symptoms of autism, and she shares her suspicions. John is annoyed at the mere thought of it, and Randy (Savannah's neighbor), with his careless words, provokes the angry soldier into a fight, where Tim also gets. When the incident was hushed up, the lovers spend the last days together, and John goes back to service.
A long correspondence ends with a letter from Savannah that she is getting married. John thinks Randy is the chosen one and extends his service for another 4 years. Only the death of his father makes the soldier fly home, where he finds out that his former love married Tim, a cancer patient. John secretly sells the entire collection of his father’s coins, except for one of the most dear to the heart coins. He donates money for Tim's treatment. Savannah writes to him that he knows who the money is from. Soon John forever leaves the army and returns home, where his beloved is waiting. So ends “Dear John”, the plot of which makes you worry about the characters until the very last minutes of the melodrama.
Characters of heroes
John is a person who can be said to be faithful to what he believes in. What did he believe in? In love, to the homeland, those around. It is difficult to make such a person disappointed in his ideals, but when this happens, the wound heals for a very long time. In addition, John is a defender by nature, which means that he will stand guard over what he believes in. And this is just so dearly beloved Motherland, so passionately manifested love of young people and so carefully formed ideals.
The content of the film “Dear John” is by no means unique: a young man falls in love with a beautiful blonde with big eyes. Savannah is by nature a girl who does not rush to extremes: for the sake of love, she waits, she believes, wants the future where she will be protected by John. However, like any other, it does not want to be a fallback. After the tragedy of September 11, she realizes that John has the homeland in the first place, and the girl cannot cope with such a rival. Nothing comes to her mind better than to give in. And by the fact that the girl marries a man with cancer and takes care of his autistic son, she only proves the purity of her motivation.
Tim plays an important role in the movie "Dear John." His character is revealed in a hospital bed: he tells the soldier how long he loved Savannah, but saw that she has such tender feelings only for John. Tim was not ready to fight and go over his heads for the sake of his feelings, but played a big role in bringing together two people who so dreamed of each other.
Dear John: reviews
The audience met the picture much better than critics did: 4.4 points out of 10 do not honor, and 29% of positive reviews completely block the path to stunning rewards. So, on Metacritic out of 100 possible films scored only 43 points from critics. Such ratings are called average or “mixed”, because they are still separated from the bad ones by the successful moments at which directors, producers and scriptwriters managed to put the right accents.
But that is not all. The reason also lies in the fact that “Dear John” receives reviews from people who are used to judging by their expectations. Someone comes to the cinema or turns on the TV to relax, and here the hero’s torment prevents it! Someone considers the emotions of the film to be a viewer. Such spectators want to plunge into the experiences of the hero with their heads, and the battered plot does not allow us to feel sympathy for the hero more than we would like. However, it is important to understand that it is expected that the melodrama focuses on the relations of the heroes, their small world, and not the global problems of everything, as can be expected.
The melodramatic works are designed for this: idealize the dreams of every spectator exhausted after work and show them to him in the best light. There will be an almost perfect girl who also demands attention and commits unforeseen, at first glance, actions, making an illogical decision. Here you can find a guy who faithfully serves the Motherland, but at a certain moment in his life who has faced a choice of what to devote himself to. In each situation, the viewer will recognize himself. But these comparisons are not always flattering. Hence the negative reviews.
Cast
But before the “Dear John” description was not quite flattering from critics and some viewers, he attracted everyone with charming characters played by actors. It is important to consider that each character was created in order to subsequently become beloved by teenagers - this particular contingent was chosen as a priority. Two main roles, lovers of John and Savannah, were played by Chaning Tatum and Amanda Seyfried. Including about them in reviews of "Dear John" write the audience.
Chaning began with a modeling career in men's magazines and starred in a video with Ricky Martin (intermediate role as a dancer). Soon, he began to appear in minor roles. Often scenes with him from the final version of the picture were cut out. The most famous works of Channing can be considered Taylor from "Step Forward", "Super Mike", where he plays the role of Mike, and Logan from "Good Luck Logan". He also appeared in Kingsman: The Golden Ring, and in Lego. Movie ”played by Superman. The film "Dear John" was not the first experience for the actor, many already knew the face of Chening.
Amanda was a model as early as 11 years old, and by the age of 15, the girl had already played in the film "How the World Rotates." An unusual appearance leaves a mark in her memory, but does not allow her to recognize the actress - a simple haircut and turning from a blonde into a brunette completely changes her appearance, and her game does not at all allow her to recognize familiar features in the new hero. So, Sylvia from the movie “Time” is very different from Savannah from “Dear John”, and “Chloe”, where she plays the main character, is not like Samantha from “Nine Lives”.
Book of Nicholas Sparks
Even without really knowing the work of the aforementioned writer, it is easy to understand that the film accurately conveys the main motives presented in the book. The cast allows you to see the story through the eyes of the director, but the book removes this obstacle, leaving a pure concentration of the plot, the main ideas and characters of the characters. The twelfth in a row was a book telling about a soldier. It is noteworthy that the content of “Dear John” was born in the course of the author’s long thoughts: he needed a serious problem that could cause the separation of the lovers.
However, the courtyard is the 21st century. Neither parental prohibitions nor racial prejudice could serve as an obstacle for people who decided for themselves that they had found a soul mate. Then the answer was found where it was not expected. Lovers are still separated by war, distance, and misplaced priorities. It is interesting that the author did not even consider the option of infidelity, since the marriage was and will be sacred. This is evident in the plot: John did not even think of counting on Savannah's love when she was married. Their reunion occurred when death dissolved the former marriage.
So, the book “Dear John” received reviews for the most part after the film and was most often compared with the film adaptation. Readers appreciate her for those innermost thoughts that were not conveyed in the film. In addition, the logic of the hero’s act in the film is fully shown through the actor’s skill to convey feelings, and in the book this can be done by the author, simply highlighting the experiences in a separate paragraph.
Famous movie quotes
Due to the fact that melodramas do not have to be action-packed, the hero and the viewer have time with him to stop and think. In this way thoughts are born that later inspired spectators like to retell and quote. Dear John, the quotes have both short, but bearing interesting accents, as well as long ones (heroes' thoughts).
One of the most striking quotes is John’s phrase, which got into the Russian trailer: "The moon will always be no more than a finger." This was preceded by words about people and about the angle from which to look at them. After all, there are bright beautiful, big personalities that overshadow the shortcomings of others and support hope, fighting spirit in comrades. But to see them, you need to remove your fingers from your face, do not look only at yourself. And in another way: good people are so far away that it is easy to cover them with a finger. But they are, and to see them, you need to remove your finger.
And the phrase “There is only two places in every marriage” shows the author’s attitude to this union. Even serious personal problems, quarrels and hardships do not provide for one of the spouses to get someone who will serve him as an outlet after quarrels with his life partner. This can be seen in how the heroes solve the tasks and how they value marriage, whether it’s own or someone else’s.
The main idea of history
There is nothing to think about - this is love. But is it possible at a distance? Will it be able to overcome the obstacles? How to carry this feeling through the years and what does it include? The author gives his answers to these questions and reveals every facet in the actions of the heroes. After all, love is much stronger if it is nourished and maintained. It is worth noting that it was with John’s decision to extend the service that Savannah was completely convinced that it was not something especially important for him. Another question is why she made a promise in this case.
Love as a simple feeling cannot be positioned in any way: being the basis of marriage, it includes a large number of other qualities, the manifestation of which shows the presence of love. And it is a manifestation. In fact, love is proved by actions when a person is placed in a position where you have to choose. In life, these moments may not be so bright: go with friends or with your spouse somewhere, choose a job that takes a lot of energy, or spend time with a life partner - those are the details from which the relationship is then formed.
Although “Dear John” received not the most flattering reviews, critics primarily look at how the work will be accepted by the audience, its performance, and not the moral background. Only those who want and need to reflect on love and its facets will be happy to reflect on the questions posed to the characters in the film.
Similar movies
The melodramas that leave a good impression are known to many on the advice of friends and acquaintances whom someone else had once recommended them. Indeed, films similar to “Dear John” are distinguished by the fact that you want to talk about them with friends, watch them again and again. So, the following pictures can be called very similar in ideas and impressions after viewing:
- "Long road";
- "Lucky";
- "The best in me";
- "Message in a bottle";
- "A quiet harbor";
- "The oath";
- "Remember me";
- "Last song";
- "Letters to Juliet" (the heroine is played by the famous Amanda Seyfried);
- "The Notebook";
- "Hurry to love."
The result can be considered the conclusion that there are films similar to "Dear John", but you need to look among well-known, proven melodramas. In addition, to show that love is really important in a relationship, not only melodramas can. Worthy films worth looking for among historical, adventure films, musicals, action films and many other genres. If, after viewing all of the above paintings, there is still a desire to find similar stories, then you can pay attention to the books on the basis of which these paintings were made.
Melodramas are not so simple ...
Another idea of the film and the book, where John's love is at the forefront, is another, less noticeable love. This is a relationship between parents and sons. John realizes that his father was dear to him, too late. It reveals the same problems as between Savannah and John: you need to try, make every effort so as not to be late to say the main words and do important things for your loved ones.
Thus, there will be no question of what quality and what emotions Dear John leaves behind. How the film ended is another question, but the ending plays an important role. Both Lasse Hallstrom and Nicholas Sparks did not focus on unexpected plot twists, but on the characters' characters, who themselves brought the story to its logical end. Both John and Savannah made enough mistakes, but remained faithful to their beliefs, decisions and feelings. Everyone can learn from them. The viewer will have to decide for himself what is most important in his life and what he will put in the first place, as John did.