Film "Dear John": reviews, plot summary and cast

2024 Author: Leah Sherlock | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-17 05:25

American melodrama captivated many with its thoughtfulness, competent acting and the moral side of the plot. Unlike its peers, Dear John has received excellent reviews from audiences of all ages and mixed reviews from critics. The script of the film is based on a true story told in the book by Nicholas Sparks.

The heroes are a man and a woman who are indistinguishable from other people. What is so attractive in the relationship of these two people? Why are many viewers again drawn to revisit the story they already know? Maybe it was the actors who endowed the characters with such a powerful charge of charisma and attractiveness?

Movie Description

The picture "Dear John" content reveals throughout the entire viewing time. John Tyree has been in the service of the US military for a long time. Only one year left, and he can leave the army and start a family, a boring job and immerse himself in the routine of everyday life, as many military men did when they became civilians. In the meantime, he comes to his native land to his father. He raised him himselfengaged in collecting expensive coins, and those specimens that were found by his son, he protects with special care. John's meeting with Savannah turned the whole vacation upside down and showed that happiness is possible, although it ends with separation.

The lovers understood that parting for 1 year would be a difficult test, but surmountable. Since the post office is famous for its indiscipline and ability to delay letters, they numbered their messages. Savannah always started writing with words that sound like “dear John” in Russian. If not all letters arrived, then thanks to the numbering, both quickly determined that one of them was lost. John literally breathed the messages of his beloved. He lived from letter to letter, as office workers live from paycheck to paycheck.

Gradually fewer letters, and September 11, 2001, which later became known to the whole world, became a turning point: John needs to serve another year, since his entire unit agreed to this sacrifice. But to remain in the army at this critical moment meant losing a woman dear to her heart. This choice was even harder for John due to what was written in the last letter.

Dear John Plot

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, like slaves waiting for freedom. Savannah Lynn Curtis was a student who came to her native land only for the holidays, walking near the ships, she dropped her purse directly into the water. Valuable things were terribly sorry, but she herself would not have dared to jump. This was done by a soldier passing by, he dived from a 4-meter pier.

Over the next few days, he meets Tim, Savannah's friend, and also his son Alan. The boy has autism. When the girl gets to know father John better, the secrecy and isolation of his character reminds her of the symptoms of autism, and she shares her suspicions. John gets annoyed at the mere thought of this, and Randy (Savannah's neighbor) with his careless words provokes an angry soldier into a fight, where Tim also gets. With the incident hushed up, the lovers spend their last days together and John heads back to work.

Long correspondence ends with Savannah's letter that she is getting married. John thinks that 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 learns that his former love has married Tim, a cancer patient. John secretly sells his father's entire coin collection except for one of his most prized coins. He donates money for Tim's treatment. Savannah writes to him that she knows who the money is from. Soon, John leaves the army forever and returns home, where his beloved is waiting for him. This is how “Dear John” ends, the plot of which makes you worry about the characters until the very last minutes of the melodrama.

Characters of heroes

John is a man who can be said to be committed to what he believes in. What did he believe in? In love, in the Motherland, 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 protector by nature, which means he will stand guard over what he believes in. And this is precisely the dearly beloved Motherland, the love of young people so passionately manifested, and the ideals so carefully formed.

The content of Dear John is by no means unique: a young man falls in love with a beautiful blonde woman with big eyes. Savannah, by her nature, is a girl who does not rush to extremes: for the sake of love, she waits, she believes, she wants the future where she will be under the protection of John. However, like everyone else, she doesn't want to be a fallback. After the September 11 tragedy, she understands that John's homeland is in the first place, and the girl cannot cope with such a rival. Nothing comes to her mind better than giving in. And the fact that a girl marries a man with cancer and takes care of his son with autism, she only proves the purity of her motive.

Tim plays an important role in the movie "Dear John". His character is revealed in a hospital bed: he tells the soldier how much he loved Savannah for a long time, but he saw that she had such tender feelings only for John. Tim was not ready to fight and go over the heads for the sake of his feelings, but he played a big role in bringing together two people who dreamed about each other so much.

Dear John Reviews

The public received the picture much better than the critics did: 4, 4 points out of 10 does not do honor, and 29% of positive reviews completely block the path to stunning awards. So, on Metacritic, out of 100 possible, the film scored only 43 points from critics. Such ratings are called average or “mixed”, because they are still separated from bad ones by successful moments on which directors, producers and screenwriters managed to put the right accents.

But that's 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 then the hero's torment prevents them from doing it! Someone considers the purpose of viewing the emotions from the film. Such viewers want to plunge into the experiences of the hero with their heads, and the hackneyed plot does not allow them to feel sympathy for the hero more than they would like. However, it is important to understand that what is expected from a melodrama is precisely the emphasis on the relationship of the characters, their little world, and not the global problems of everything, as might be expected.

Melodramatic works are designed for this: to 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 here, who also requires attention and performs unforeseen, at first glance, actions, having made an illogical decision. Here you can also find a guy who faithfully serves the Motherland, but at a certain point in his life faced with 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 "Dear John" the description was not quiteflattering to critics and some viewers, it drew everyone in with the charming characters played by the actors. It is important to bear in mind that each character was created in order to later become loved by teenagers - it was this contingent that was chosen as a priority. Channing Tatum and Amanda Seyfried played the two leading roles of John and Savannah in love. Viewers also write about them in reviews of Dear John.

Chening started out modeling in men's magazines and starred in a video with Ricky Martin (interim role as a dancer). He soon began to appear in minor roles. Often scenes with him were cut out of the final version of the picture. Channing's most famous works include Taylor from Step Up, Magic Mike, where he plays the role of Mike, and Logan from Logan's Good Luck. He has also appeared in Kingsman: The Golden Ring and Lego. The Movie" played Superman. The film "Dear John" was not the first experience for the actor, many already knew the face of Channing.

Amanda was a model at the age of 11, and by the age of 15 the girl was already playing in the film "As the World Turns". An extraordinary appearance leaves a mark in the memory, but does not allow you to recognize the actress - a simple haircut and transformation from a blonde to a brunette completely change the appearance, and her acting does not at all allow you to recognize the familiar features in the new hero. So, Sylvia from the movie "Time" is strikingly different from Savannah from "Dear John", and "Chloe", where she plays the main character, does not look like Samantha from "Nine Lives".

Book by Nicholas Sparks

Even without really knowing the creativity of the abovewriter, it is easy to understand that the film accurately conveys the main motives set forth in the book. The cast allows you to see the story through the eyes of the director, but the book removes this barrier, leaving a pure concentration of plot, main ideas and characters. The twelfth book was a book about a soldier. It is noteworthy that the content of "Dear John" was born in the course of long reflections of the author: he needed a serious problem that could cause the lovers to part.

However, it's the 21st century. Neither parental prohibitions nor racial prejudice could serve as an obstacle to people who decided for themselves that they had found a soul mate. Then the answer was found where it was not expected. The lovers are still separated by war, distance and misplaced priorities. Interestingly, the author did not even consider the option of infidelity, since marriage was and will be sacred. This is evident in the plot: John did not even think to count on Savannah's love when she was married. Their reunion happened when death ended their previous 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 intimate thoughts that were not conveyed in the film. In addition, the logic of the hero's action in the film is fully shown through the skill of the actor to convey feelings, and in the book the author can do this by 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 viewerwith him there is time to stop and think. This is how thoughts are born, which then inspired viewers like to retell and quote. "Dear John" quotes have both short, but carrying interesting accents, and long ones (the characters' reflections).

One of the brightest quotes is John's phrase, which got into the Russian trailer: "The moon will always be no larger than a finger." This was preceded by words about people and about the angle at which to look at them. After all, there are bright, beautiful, great personalities that overshadow the shortcomings of others and maintain hope and fighting spirit in comrades. But to see them, you need to remove your fingers from your face, not just look 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 there, and you need to remove your finger to see them.

And the phrase "In every marriage there is only room for two" shows the author's attitude towards this union. Even serious personal problems, quarrels and hardships do not provide for one of the spouses to get himself someone who will serve as an outlet for him after quarrels with his life partner. This can be seen in the way the characters solve their problems and how they value marriage, whether it is their own or someone else's.

The main idea of the story

There is nothing to think about - this is love. However, is it possible at a distance? Can he overcome 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 characters. After all, love is much stronger if it is nourished and supported. It is worth noting thatit was with John's decision to extend his service that Savannah became fully convinced that it was not something particularly important to 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 that's the manifestation. In fact, love is proved by actions when a person is placed in a position where one has to choose. In life, these moments may not be so bright: going somewhere with friends or with a spouse, choosing a job that takes a lot of strength or spending time with a life partner - those details from which relationships are then formed.

Although "Dear John" received not the most flattering reviews, critics primarily look at how the work will be received 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

Melodramas that leave a good impression are known to many on the advice of friends and acquaintances who were once recommended by someone else. Indeed, films similar to Dear John are distinguished by the fact that you want to talk about them to your 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 of Me";
• "Message in a Bottle";
• Quiet Harbor;
• "Oath";
• "Remember me";
• "The Last Song";
• "Letters to Juliet" (the heroine is played by the already famous Amanda Seyfried);
• "Diary of Memory";
• "Hurry to love."

The result can be considered the conclusion that there are films similar to "Dear John", but you need to look for well-known, proven melodramas. In addition, not only melodramas can show that love is really important in a relationship. Worthy films should be looked for among historical, adventure films, musicals, action films and many other genres. If, after viewing all 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 easy…

Another idea of the film and book, where John's love is at the forefront, is another, less noticeable love. This is the relationship between parents and sons. John realizes that his father was dear to him, too late. The same problem is revealed as between Savannah and John: you need to try, make every effort not to be late to say the main words and do important things for your loved ones.

So there will be no question of what quality and what emotions "Dear John" leaves behind. How the movie ended is another question, but the ending plays an important role. Both Lasse Hallstrom and Nicholas Sparks did not focus on unexpected plotturns, but on the characters, who themselves brought the story to its logical end. Both John and Savannah made enough mistakes, but remained true 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.