Highly Overrated But Still Good

Crappy film

In truth, there is barely enough story here to make a film.

Strong acting helps the film overcome an uncertain premise and create characters that hold our attention absolutely.

**SPOILERS AHEAD** I'm sorry but the reason I watch romance is to make me either cry or have heart warming feeling, i got none of these... I just felt like i wasted my time watching this and it didn't have a good structured ending. Sorry to the fan but i was told i would cry, i didn't (I cry easily). AND IM SORRRRY BUT WHY TIM??? like i get it he needed you but if you loved John the way you said you did then you wouldn't of done that.All in all i was disappointed and I did not enjoy this film.

Dear John is a movie about an Army soldier named John Tyree, who meets college student, Savannah Curtis, after he rescues her bag from the ocean. Within two weeks, they fall in love with each other. Savannah gets to meet John's father, Mr. Tyree, whom she observes has autism and John meets Savannah's neighbors and friends, Tim and his son who has autism too, Alan. After two weeks, Savannah goes back to college and John returns to the Army for a year. They agree to send letters to each other throughout the year of his tour. Right before John's tour ends, 9/11 happens and extends his tour. A few months into the tour, Savannah sends him a letter saying that she's engaged to someone else. John is extremely hurt and continues extending his tours until he's sent home because his father had a stroke and is in the hospital. His father passes away and John goes to see Savannah to get some closure. John finds out that Tim is the one she married and that he has stage four lymphomas. Savannah explains that she broke up with him to help Tim out and she couldn't bear the pain of not having John around any longer. John says goodbye to her forever and they go their separate ways. The movie ends with them seeing each other again and they hug each other. Since this is a romance movie, I think the basic message the film is trying to convey is that there will be circumstances that will keep lovers apart, but true love will always find a way. I would say that the film does convey this message in the romance between John and Savannah. In the movie, there were several circumstances that keep them apart. One of those circumstances is the fact that John was still in the army when they met, so they couldn't be physically together for most of the time and 9/11 occurred when John was still in the Army. Another factor that kept them apart was Savannah's marriage to Tim and Tim's cancer. Savannah felt that Tim needed her help, so she married him. Also, since Savannah and Tim were married, John and Savannah couldn't be together. In the end, though, Tim passes away, so Savannah isn't married anymore and they see each other again and hug. Since the movie ends with them hugging, it's assumed that they get back together and get married. My reaction to how the movie portrayed individuals with disabilities was overall positive. There were a few things that I noticed that may portray people with disabilities in a negative light. Fortunately, most of the time when it happens, Savannah is there to shed more understanding on the situation than John does. The first thing is the lack of person first language. Throughout the movie, the characters comment how John's father is autistic or that Alan is autistic. If the characters were to use person first language, they would have said "Alan has autism" or "Mr. Tyree has autism" because person first language puts the person first and then the condition. The second thing was also the part where John gets offended when Savannah tells him that his father has autism. He says, "You're saying my dad's retarded or something?" There are two reasons why John's reaction bothers me. First, he uses the word "retarded" which has become widely rejected to use in any context because people with disabilities used to be called retarded as an official term, but then people started using it in different contexts to mean stupid. Using the word "retarded" in place of the word "stupid" is offensive because it's insinuating that individuals with mental disabilities are stupid. Therefore, I do not agree with the choice to include the word in the movie. In the movie's defense, though, Savannah immediately responds to John's comment saying, "No, Alan's not retarded, John. He's autistic." I give the movie credit for making the distinction between "retarded" and having autism. The second reason is because John is offended that Savannah is saying that his dad has autism. Denial may be a common reaction to news like this, but his taking offense to it means that having autism is a bad thing. Having autism should not be viewed as bad, it's just another form of the human condition. The good part, though, is that John still loves his dad. The third part is when Savannah and John try to get Mr. Tyree to meet her parents, breaking his routine. After they start driving, Mr. Tyree can't go through with it and has to be taken back home. John's reaction is mostly annoyance because he blames his dad for ruining his only night in Charleston. John's feelings and reactions to Mr. Tyree's break down shed a negative light on people with disabilities because he seems to be blaming his father for not being able to make it to meet Savannah's parents'. This blaming is problematic because it's blaming him for something that he can't control. Fortunately, Savannah does point out that he tried, showing that he did want to go. I think that everything else concerning people with disabilities was good because it showed that they are people too. Also, Savanna comments on how people with autism seem to have a horse sense, meaning that they have good intuition about certain things. Her comment about people with autism having horse sense sheds a positive light on people with disabilities. I'm giving the movie a 6 because it was a good movie with an okay plot. I would say it's your typical, run-of-the mill romance that I might suggest watching once, but it's definitely not a movie that I would watch again. Also, it definitely wasn't as good as The Notebook because it didn't really have any incredible plot twists like The Notebook does, but overall, a decent romance movie.

*May Contain Spoilers*Out of 10 stars, I would give this star a 7. While it was a well- done movie, there could have been more development is some of the sub- plots. Overall, I enjoyed watching the movie and would be willing to watch it again, I would not consider it one of my favorite movies. Dear John is the tale Savannah and John who show that while love may have obstacles, it can travel around the world and last a lifetime. Savannah is a college student who met John in South Carolina during a volunteer trip. John is a resident of South Carolina who is in the United States Army and lives with his Dad who may be on the autism spectrum, even though it is not confirmed in the movie. As stated in the movie, it only took two weeks for Savannah and John to fall in love but when those two weeks were up, the reality of life settled in an Savannah and John had to face long distance, deployment, friends who have fallen ill, and accomplishment of personal dreams through letters written to one another. While some may believe that love has no bounds, Dear John sends that message the life will throw obstacles at love and choices need to be made that can affect the relationship despite the love shared. I found that Dear John portrayed a realistic version of love for young lovers who not only come from different experiences but also have different goals. Dear John showed that while someone may love another, sometimes other responsibilities need to take priority but the love one has for another will never truly disappear. The main character that was perceived to have a disability was John's father. It was hinted by Savannah that he may have autism because he is obsessed with coins, has a schedule for dinner, and lack social skills. However, when she addresses this with John, John reacts negatively and automatically assumes that Savannah thinks that something is wrong with him. This is considered a negative barrier because it promotes stigma that autism means not right. However, a positive advocacy if autism occurs in the movie through the love Savannah has for her neighbor who has autism. Savannah shows that autism is not bad and through interventions such as horse-back riding, children with autism can build connections. Overall, I would recommend this movie for those who enjoy love stories. Since this movie is based on the novel by Nicholas Sparks, I would highly recommend this movie to those who enjoy Nicholas Sparks's works.

Dear John is a movie adaptation of the popular Nicholas Sparks novel. It stars Channing Tatum and Amanda Seyfried. I did not enjoy this movie, it's very flawed in many ways. I love a good love story, so don't think I rated it 1 because I hate romance stories, it's just because this romance film is very dull one. From the dull acting/characters to the ever slow moving plot and boring dialogue. There isn't much in the film that isn't dull and boring. The two lead actors look the part and you'd think they'd be good fits and work well, but I just couldn't see the chemistry between them, they never made me believe they were really in love and believable chemistry is CRUCIAL in a movie like this. And to be honest, even when Seyfried or Tatum were alone, I still didn't really buy or enjoy their performances. On to the writing. It's not good. It's just about that simple, the dialogue is very dull and uninteresting, I couldn't stand the script, with dull characters saying dull lines of dialogue, one gets bored and increasingly uninterested as the movie goes along. It really does nothing to keep your attention. It's very difficult for films like this because if the romance between the two leads doesn't work, then what more do you have?? That is what the movie is ALL about, it's the basis for it and it's why people are watching it. This film just really didn't work. 1/10.