Here’s a great idea. Let’s take the guy most known for being flat and lifeless in “G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra” and put him in a movie that actually requires emotions to make it work. Lasse Hallström’s “Dear John” proves what happens when you do something silly like miscasting a part with an actor who is not up to the task.
The story is a simple one about a soldier, John Tyree (Channing Tatum), on leave from duty in the Army. While on the beach, he recovers a woman’s bag after it is accidentally gets knocked in the water. He learns her name is Savannah (Amanda Seyfried) and gets invited by her to a barbecue that she and her friends are attending. Their relationship continues to grow as John meets her friends. He even takes her home to meet his recluse dad (Richard Jenkins).
With John’s leave running out, they decide to write each other letters while he is away. When tragedy strikes, John must make the decision whether he wants to dutifully serve his country or return to the girl he loves. Also weighing on his decision is his dad, who has no one to look after him after John leaves. He returns home once more to decide.
The first half of this film is where the biggest problems lie. It’s hard to believe that Tatum and Seyfriend are a couple when Tatum never shows any emotion. Well, to be fair, he does show emotion in one scene, but it doesn’t even involve Savannah. He mainly mumbles his lines, which ends up taking away a lot form the romantic side of the film.
The romantic side is also hurt by a strange fight that the two have. John becomes upset at Savannah’s suggestion that his dad might be autistic. She’s actually sort of knowledgeable in this area since a friend of hers has an autistic son whom she’s known since his birth, but John becomes furious at the suggestion, causing him to injure a few of her friends. A guy who becomes this infuriated this easily is not exactly a prime subject for a romance.
Seyfried actually does a decent job here. After her interesting performance in “Jennifer’s Body,” it’s good to see that she is getting to try other roles. As Savannah, she finds herself immediately attracted to John. Perhaps this is because of his kind manner (that is, if you put aside the awkward fight).
It’s also good to see Richard Jenkins again. You may remember him from a brilliant little film a couple of years ago called “The Visitor,” where he plays a very lonely man who finally makes a friend to spend time with. Here, he is not given very much of a role. He plays John’s dad, who is an avid coin collector, and ends up only talking about coins. It’s interesting to note though that his character opens up to Savannah after not having much to say to his own son. She does this through his love of coins, which he obviously loves to talk about.
The film begins to suffer more when the two are split apart. Their relationship always felt like there was a distance between the two when they were together, so when there actually is distance between the two, the relationship works even less. It doesn’t exactly make for an engaging film when we have to sit there while letters are being read to us from both sides.
Then the film begins to lose focus as it begins to concentrate on John a lot more, and then on his dad. The funny thing is, the first half of the film that hadn’t worked when the two were together is what actually makes the last part of the film work well. There would be too many spoilers to go into it in depth, but it’s interesting that that imaginary distance actually helps them out in the end.
A film like “Dear John” could work, but you need commitment from two actors who would be able to give the emotion needed to make the relationship believable, and that’s just not something you’re going to get with Channing Tatum. On top of that, you need a film that will focus on them without wavering away too much. We should be able to see the relationship develop. We shouldn’t have to be told through narrated letters how the characters feel about each other. That simply makes the emotion get lost in the mail.
2.5/4 stars.
You can read this and other movie reviews in my column at The Richmond Examiner.