Dear John

John Tyree (Channing Tatum) is on a two-week leave from the Special Forces and is staying with his reclusive father (Richard Jenkins). After surfing, he eyes the beautiful Savannah Curtis (Amanda Seyfried) and acts quickly when her purse falls off a pier. Upon retrieving her purse from the ocean’s depths, the two strike up a conversation and spend the rest of the day together. Not surprisingly, they quickly fall in love. At the end of the two weeks, they promise to write faithfully until John’s one-year deployment ends upon which afterward they can continue their lives together.

Though the lovely young couple has every intention of keeping their promise, the 9/11 terrorist attack deters their plans when John feels it’s his duty to reenlist with his fellow comrades. Savannah remains by his side until the letters slowly begin to just trickle in. Since the movie’s title derives from the notion of “Dear John” letters, I do not feel it’s a spoiler to say that ultimately John receives his own from Savannah. Years pass and when his father suffers a stroke, John returns to be by his side and then makes the decision to pay a visit to Savannah.

There’s some enjoyment in the film. The characters of Savannah and John are much more pleasant in this love story. In most romantic comedies or dramas, the conflicts are usually within how the leads treat each other, often passing the realistic bounds of any normal tolerance. John and Savannah are loving to one another and sincerely wanted to be together. While this could have provided the perfect ingredient to pull the audience in, the characters are poorly written and vague. We mostly just know that Savannah loves horses and autistic children, and John is estranged from his father and has an enormous devotion to the army. Barely changing within the film’s eight-year time span, their flat characters teeter on the edge of becoming stale.

Channing Tatum and Amanda Seyfried are excellent for the lead roles. Having seen most of his movies, I was curious how Tatum would perform in a romantic lead. He carries the role well, demonstrating how much his acting has grown. He certainly has chemistry with Amanda Seyfried. While some might feel the film’s mediocrity stems from the two lead actors, I’d have to humbly disagree. They work well with what they were given. While it’s certainly possible for two people to fall in love within a two-week time frame, the film only provides a few scenes of their budding relationship before the montage of wars, letters, and narrations begins. Perhaps if more time was spent on convincing the audience of their love, instead of their destructive separation, the film would have been better received.

Objectionable Content

There is a low amount of cursing, with about 4 uses (1 SOB, 1 GD, and about 2 sh*t). The name of Jesus is misused about 4 times as well. The violence is relatively mild; there’s a brief war scene where a soldier gets shot and is shown in a pool of blood. In another scene, John punches a man and elbows another who approaches him from behind. In a positive subsequent scene, one of the victims quickly forgives John.

The sexual content is heavy. John and Savannah share passionate kisses. During their first kiss, she straddles him, and in another she gets on top of him. Upon reuniting with Savannah after their breakup, John watches her undress. When she notices, Savannah simply stands topless (only shoulders shown), allowing John to stare at her. He notably resists the unspoken invitation and walks away.

When John’s about to be deployed again, they decide to have sex. Though there’s no actual nudity, a lot is still shown. While the movie would have been better off without the scene, I feel it was portrayed negatively. Afterwards, Savannah is shown staring off with tears in her eyes, and the next morning John and Savannah appear more miserable than before, as they bid their goodbyes.

Savannah and John sought to get rid of their sadness by consummating their relationship. However, they become worse off, since they sinned. It’s almost common knowledge that Scripture strictly forbids fornication, but one must remember that God is very wise and does not simply create rules for the fun of it. He wishes to keep his children safe from becoming entangled in sin. People who do not have a personal relationship with Christ often try to find peace in perishable, temporary things. Within Christ is the everlasting peace that is the perfect resolution for any woes, anger, or pain. In Philippians 4:6-7, it reads:

“Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.”

I do not personally recommend the film. While the film aims to show the devastation of lost love, I felt it more demonstrated how life almost never works out the way we intend for it to. That is why, it’s always important to put full faith in God and place our lives in his hands and allow him to guide our lives wherever He feels it would be best (Proverbs 3:5-6).

Violence: Moderate / Profanity: Mild / Sex/Nudity: Heavy

See list of Relevant Issues—questions-and-answers.

• Positive
• Neutral
• Negative
• Young people