100 movies: Dear John

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100 movies of 2012

Every year I set myself a target, usually of about 100, of films to watch. These are new films. Not new, new films. But films that are new to me. Any time I’ve seen a new one, I post a bit of a brain dump of my thoughts on the film here. Enjoy!

Dear JohnDear John (04/03/12)

A romantic drama about a soldier who falls for a conservative college student while he’s home on leave.

I feel like I need to justify why I sat and watched this. What decision-making went through my mind to make me think this was a good idea. Well, I have a reason. Not sure it’s a good reason. It was Sunday afternoon/evening. It was raining. I had nothing better to do. My brain was officially off until Monday morning. Reason enough?

It’s very much your typical romance film. It’s all very soppy and romantic. Channing Tatum and Amanda Seyfried play their roles to perfection. Ridiculously good-looking army man and ridiculously gorgeous and generous girl. One has a perfect family. The other has an autistic father.

You go through the ups and downs of their relationship as Channing’s John heads off to war. On multiple occasions.

In terms of romance films, there’s nothing special about this one. Very forgettable. But Channing and Amanda do make you feel for their characters. No matter how flimsy they are. I do sort of fall for their relationship part way through the film.

It is just another love story. Nothing momentous. But not a bad time filler for a Sunday evening when it’s raining outside.
Rating: 2/5

Read on to see all the films watched this year…

16 Films so far this year

  1. The Tourist 1/5 (02/01/12)
  2. The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo 5/5 (03/01/12)
  3. World’s Greatest Dad 2/5 (14/01/12)
  4. Haywire 3/5 (19/01/12)
  5. Dead Snow 3/5 (20/01/12)
  6. The Artist 5/5 (21/01/12)
  7. Priest 2/5 (05/02/12)
  8. The Muppets 5/5 (15/02/12)
  9. Faster 4/5 (19/02/12)
  10. Chronicle 4/5 (22/02/12)
  11. Safe House 4/5 (24/02/12)
  12. Reservoir Dogs 4/5 (25/02/12)
  13. This Means War 4/5 (02/03/12)
  14. The Royal Tenenbaums 3/5 (03/03/12)
  15. Reign of Fire 3/5 (04/03/12)
  16. Dear John 2/5 (04/03/12)

6 Comments

  1. Films based off Nicholas Sparks’s novels tend to drive me crazy. Dear John was no different for me. You’re right – it was a love story. A perfectly fine love story. But I would have given it a similar review to yours. It just gets on my nerves and it’s a little too melodramatic for me at times. Nice summation.

    • Completely melodramatic and self indulgent.

      Ahh, didn’t know he was the same author behind The Notebook. That’s kinda my go-to over the top romance film I actually like to watch. Though, that might have a lot to do with the cast – Ryan Gosling and Rachel McAdams were just perfect.

  2. Pretty horrible movie I thought. Amanda Seyfried appears making nearly exclusively in bad movies these days, it’s scary.

  3. I really have no interest in seeing this given how I feel about Tatum. Seems overly schmaltzy to me.

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