Dear John (www.the-usher.com)

"Dear Savannah..."

2001, John Tyree (Tatum) returns home on the coast of Carolina for two weeks leave from his platoon in Germany. The Special Forces soldier heads straight for his first love, the surf but as he watches the waves he sees a beautiful girl’s bag fall into the ocean. Diving off the pier to retrieve it, the grateful girl, Savannah (Seyfried) invites John to a beach party. The two talk all afternoon and well into the night. Over the next two weeks, they fall in love but with her heading back to college and him shipping out with his unit, the couple promise to write until John returns finishes his tour and returns to her in a year’s time. On September 11th, 2001 everything changed however and John had to choose between duty to his country and woman he loves.

Using the tragic and terrible events of September 11th 2001 has started to become acceptable of late and for ‘Dear John’ we see how the attack affected a soldier and the woman he loved.

Since that terrible day in New York, the movie industry has been reluctant to use the events as a plot device but as the years pass the attack has become a powerful and dramatic way of telling a story. We have seen stories of people in New York, the brave firefighters, police and everyday citizens of the city who went through that day but what happened had repercussions for not only for America but also for the world. This, of course, affected those in the armed forces the most as this attack that to be followed by a military response and this film uses that.

For ‘Dear John’, September 11th is used to show the affect it would have on a couple when one of them is in the armed forces. Falling in love while he was on leave during the summer of 2001, John and Savannah’s relationship is changed completely because of what happened on the fateful day. A Special Forces soldier, John was due to leave the service after his final posting in Germany and start his life with Savannah but as most soldier’s did at this time, he committed himself to the armed forces for as long as they needed him. This, of course, changed the relationship between him and Savannah as he headed to the Middle East and she had to continue with her life. Communicating via hand written letters, the relationship plays out on two sides of the world and reveals how been in the armed services can be a strain on even the most perfect relationship.

To bring this story to life you needed two young actors who are accustomed to drama and romance. Director Lasse Hallstrom has worked with some of tremendous actors and actresses in films like ‘What’s Eating Gilbert Grape’, ‘The Cider House Rules’, ‘The Shipping News’, ‘Casanova’ and ‘ Chocolat’ and for ‘Dear John’ he has done that again. Casting Channing Tatum and Amanda Seyfried as John and Savannah brings the Nicholas Sparks novel to life. While Channing Tatum maybe trying to make a name for himself as an action star in films like ‘G.I. Joe: Rise of the Cobra’ and Amanda Seyfried is still best known for ‘Mamma Mia’, both of them are no stranger to the more dramatic roles. Channing has appeared in ‘Fighting’ and ‘Public Enemies’ and Seyfried appeared in ‘Chloe’, ‘Letters to Juliet’ and the hit TV show ‘Big Love’ and for ‘Dear John’ the pair makes a convincing couple. The rest of the cast is also good. The always-excellent Richard Jenkins is superb as John’s father and it is good to see Henry Thomas show that he can bring something good to a movie as Savannah’s friend Tim.

‘Dear John’ is a romantic drama that has a good and relevant story to tell. With two excellent performances from the lead actors and a story that will draw in all those hopeless romantics, this is a film that will be a hit with its target audience.

Alternative ending
Deleted and alternate scenes
Outtakes

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2010