Dear John (2010)

"Fulfills its mission...  Calvin Wilson, St. Louis Post-Dispatch
"There's an audience for old-fashioned romance, and Dear John will please most of it.  Connie Ogle, Miami Herald

Editor's Note Director Lasse Hallström and screenwriter Jamie Linden collaborate to adapt author Nicholas Sparks' novel about a young soldier who falls for an idealistic college girl. Savannah Curtis (Amanda Seyfried) was on spring break when she first met John Tyree (Channing Tatum), who was home on temporary leave. For the smitten soldier it was practically love at first sight. Over the course of the next seven years, when each deployment seemed more treacherous than the last, the love letters that Savannah sent to John were one of the only things that kept him going. However, those loving and heartfelt correspondences would ultimately yield consequences that neither the brave soldier nor his one true love could have ever foreseen.

	Richard Jenkins
	Henry Thomas
	Channing Tatum
	D.J. Cotrona
	Amanda Seyfried
	Michael Harding - Co-Star
	Shelley Reid - Co-Star
	Cullen Moss - Co-Star
	Leslea Fisher - Co-Star
	Jessica Lucas - Co-Star
	Scott Porter - Co-Star
	Mary Rachel Dudley - Co-Star
	Tom Stearns - Co-Star
	Maxx Hennard - Co-Star
	Gavin McCulley - Co-Star
	Jose Lucena - Co-Star
	William Howard - Co-Star
	Bryce Hayes - Co-Star
	R. Braeden Reed - Co-Star
	Anthony Osment - Co-Star
	Jim Wenthe - Co-Star
	Matt Blue - Co-Star
	Lauree Bradway - Co-Star
	Glenn M. Tatum - Co-Star
	Martin Coleman Bowen - Co-Star
	Steven O'Connor - Co-Star
	Teresa Smith - Co-Star
	Cenk Otay - Co-Star
	Russell A. Turner - Co-Star
	Lisa Burrascano - Co-Star
	Mary Fischer - Co-Star
	Luke Benward - Co-Star
	Charlie Croughwell - Stunt Coordinator
	Brett Rice - Co-Star
	David Dwyer - Co-Star
	Keith Robinson - Co-Star
	Cara Giallanza - Assistant Director
	Happy Walters - Music Director
	Bill Badalato - Production Manager/UPM
	Terry Stacey - Director of Photography
	Nicholas Sparks - Source Writer
	Summer Eubanks - Set Decorator
	Keva Keyes - Costumes
	John R. Bayless - Makeup Designer
	Season Kent - Music Director
	Deborah Lurie - Composer
	Lillian Byrne Heyward - Computer Graphics
	Jamie Linden - Screenwriter
	Christopher Kulikowski - Post-Production Supervisor
	Kelly E. Caldwell - Hairstylist
	David Andrews - Co-Star
	Lasse Hallstrom - Director

New York Times
"[T]his story of interrupted passion takes on a ripe, summery glow....[I]t delivers an effective, pleasing dose of pure sentiment and vicarious heartache."

Hollywood Reporter
"DEAR JOHN does center on a Dear John letter, but it takes a few unexpected paths." 02/02/2010

Empire
3 stars out of 5 -- "Tatum delivers a decent turn as a former brawler, saved by military discipline and bowled over by a girl..." 05/01/2010

Premiere
"Director Lasse Hallstrom and team takes full advantage of the widescreen format and showcase the beautiful South Carolina coast..." 05/24/2010

The New York Times 7 of 10
Go ahead and cry. You know you want to. Why else would you read a book by -- or, in keeping with our purposes here, see a movie based on a book by -- Nicholas Sparks?...Dear John, the latest attempt to bring his warm, earnest, therapeutic sensibility to the screen, falls in the upper middle range of Sparks film adaptations. If it lacks the epic sweep and extravagant emotionalism of The Notebook -- Oh, Ryan and Rachel! Oh, James and Gena! -- it also is free of the creepy piety and watered-down eros of A Walk to Remember. In the hands of director Lasse Hallstrom, a blue-chip hack with a sure touch even when he's slumming for a paycheck, this story of interrupted passion takes on a ripe, summery glow...A lot of it succeeds. Mr. Tatum, in his movie roles so far -- A Guide to Recognizing Your Saints and Fighting, both directed by Dito Montiel, are the best -- has shown himself to be an actor of narrow range. But his potential is evident, and his magnetism is undeniable. He is shrewd enough to stay within his comfort zone, and able to make the most of his interactions with more nimble performers, like Ms. Seyfried, a resourceful and engaging young actress industriously turning herself into a movie star...Their likability is the movie's greatest strength -- how can you not root for such nice kids to overcome whatever obstacles life throws in their paths? -- and also something of a limitation. John and Savannah are too thinly drawn to sustain a great love story. Mr. Hallstrom and the screenwriter, Jamie Linden, are careful to respect the vague, whispery tones of Mr. Sparks's writing. (They do, however, change the book's ending in a way that both deepens and blunts its impact.)...But a full measure of romantic complication or psychological depth is not what a movie like this -- or the book it comes from -- is for. Dear John carefully distills selected elements of human experience and reduces them to a sweet and digestible syrup. It may not be strong medicine, but it delivers an effective, pleasing dose of pure sentiment and vicarious heartache. - A.O. Scott