Dear John" tells story of John Tyree, a young soldier home on leave, and Savannah Curtis, the idealistic college student he falls in love with during her spring vacation. Over the next seven tumultuous years, the couple is separated by John's increasingly dangerous deployments. While meeting only sporadically, they stay in touch by sending a continuous stream of love letters overseas -- correspondence that eventually triggers fateful consequences.

Nicholas Sparks’ books make very good movie adaptations as they have a rich story and good plots to them. There is nothing entirely special about them except they keep you entertained and don’t pander to you like many romantic comedies do. They are the kind of “chick flicks” that are bearable for the male gender as he is known to mix in a little action with the romance and the films have a good plot to them. The best part is the romance seems realistic not forced or something out of a fairy tale something that could and does happen in the real world and that is what makes Nicholas Sparks such a good writer of these kinds of stories.

That being said there isn’t your typical clichéd moments that you have to come expect from a film so firmly in its genre of Romance and Drama. The characters must hit the rocks for a little bit there must be drama that drives them apart and eventually they must find away to come back together. I am not even sure if there is any other way to do it though and still be believable. This kind of drama happens in almost all relationships and it is very faithful in how its shown on film. It just a little tiresome because we have seen it so many times and already know the outcome and that is not the fault of the writer or the makers of the film.

I found myself interested in the book the movie is based on because there really hasn’t been too many good films based on the Iraqi conflict. The film uses the war in Iraq and the war against terrorism as a backdrop and I piques my interest to know if there is more of this in the novel. It makes for a good reason for the lovers to be torn apart and striving to get back together and it makes for a good reason for them to separated for so long with only their longings for each other to hold onto.

I am not a fan of Channing Tatum he is a very wooden actor and he gives very little to the part. There is dozen’s of actors who would have done a better job and given more emotion to the character. It is Amanda Seyfried and Richard Jenkins who make the movie. Amanda as the love torn romantic interest and Jenkins as the father who is struggling to make a life for himself as well. Without them the movie could have very well spiraled into good into something oh so very bad and in the end the film is a good movie even if it is a little clichéd.

Grade: B