Posted By Kennan Neuman on Feb 10, 2010

All the single ladies, you don’t have to join Beyonce at the dance party to enjoy this romantic emotional roller coaster ride about getting a ring put on it.

Dear John, starring the ever- attractive Channing Tatum of G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra, is a pretty good film for girls’ night out − or the movie to beg your sweetie pie to take you to see for Valentine’s Day.

Tatum, as John Tyree, joins Amanda Seyfried, who plays Savannah Curtis, a college girl who fi nds love by dropping her purse off a pier into the ocean. (John quickly jumps in, making Savannah’s then current boyfriend look
like he cares more about his Polo shirt, even though he’s the reason the purse ended up in the water).

Because the film is based on a book by Nicholas Sparks, also the author of The Notebook, viewers expect to be swept away by a gripping tale of passionate young love and the conflicts of living within different social

Channing Tatum and Amanda Seyfried star in Screen Gems

strata.

Passion, yes. Conflict, yes. Believable? Not completely.

Without spoiling the film’s unexpected twists, it is obvious from the start of the movie that there is no easy way for most girls to put themselves in the shoes of Savannah.

In fact, little that happens in this film is realistic, despite the fact many girls in relationships with soldiers deployed might relate more easily.

For starters, the love story begins when John rescues Savannah’s purse from the ocean and is offered a beer for his walk home, and just two weeks later he is shipped back overseas.

“I love you’s” are exchanged, as well as the first of many letters, which will be the only form of communication for the two lovebirds as they spend an entire year apart.

Even though Tatum’s seemingly monotone declarations of love don’t always match the charm in his physique and intense gazes, girls will fall for his character right along with Savannah.

For many love-hungering college ladies, it’s still necessary to bring the box of tissues to the theater.

In one letter, Savanah claims that the two weeks she spent with John on the beach in North Carolina were so great that they will be more than enough to carry her through “just” one year apart.

There are many similarities to Sparks’ previous chick flick hits, and though this brings predictability, it is what most viewers have come to expect.

A scene that pulls heart strings is when Savanah takes John to see the Habitat for Humanity home she is helping to build.

John says the way she uses her spare time is further proof that he has no idea what her faults are, confirming she doesn’t drink, smoke or sleep around. “I have faults,” she says. “I curse … in my mind.” The pair laughs as she has no answer to his reply to tell him what curse she is thinking.

The film is worth seeing, but waiting for Redbox is an alternative to theater prices.