Channing Tatum, Amanda Seyfried and local autistic 7-year-old Braeden Reed charmed audiences in “Dear John,” but Charleston proved to steal the show.
In this newest Nicholas Sparks novel-to-film adaptation, John (Tatum) and Savannah (Seyfried) meet at the Folly Beach pier and fall in love on the streets of Charleston. Locals might recognize the Coast restaurant alley that the happy couple strolls down in the montage of their short-lived summer love and upper King Street shops in John’s childhood.
“Dear John” hardly breaks new cinematic ground and is largely in the mold of “A Walk to Remember” and “The Notebook,” previous Sparks novels brought to the big screen. The plots are all unique but the themes of first love, heartbreak and obligation are consistent.
Director Lasse Hallstrom (“Cider House Rules”) and the actors tried to make “Dear John” a different take on the Nicholas Sparks genre. The story is a modern war-era romance. War inevitably brings pain to relationships and the loved ones of deployed soldiers, and “Dear John” is one of the first films to tell this story in a 21st-century context.
The actors warn, however, to not think of “Dear John” as a war movie.
“I hope that people don’t think that it’s about war,” Tatum said in a conference call interview. “I really don’t want people thinking that they’re going to go in and have another depressing war movie on their hands.”
Tatum said John and Savannah’s relationship and the trials they go through because of the distance is the real focus of the film.
“I think we could have taken John out of the military and made him anything else.  As long as that distance and time was between them and things come down the road that they don’t expect,” Tatum said. “This is a love story between two kids in love for the very first time and it’s that first love that you can’t get right.”
Tatum and Seyfried say part of the movie’s message is for long-distance couples weighing their love against their responsibilities and independent goals that keep them away.
“I think it gets painful and it’s really funny, the person not being there, what it does to you.  You start fighting over stupid things that it’s not about.  All of a sudden, you’re having an argument about nothing and it’s really just that you miss the person so much,” Tatum said.
Seyfried says she finds hope in Savannah and John’s story.
“It’s hard to connect, when you have that much time away from somebody, it’s hard to stay connected in each other’s lives.  So that’s one thing that you’re really fighting.  If you lose that battle, I still think that if it’s meant to be, it’s going to come back to you,” Seyfried said.
Playing a deployed soldier and a girlfriend waiting at home gave the actors a greater appreciation for the sacrifices made by the armed forces and their loved ones.
“Not only are you risking your life, but you’re risking what you have here in the States,” Seyfried said in the conference call interview.
Tatum says “Dear John” reminded him of the importance and power of a love letter.
“I think if you haven’t written, guys, especially, if you haven’t written a love letter in a long time, you don’t have to sit and mail it.  You don’t have to do anything, just write whoever your loved one is, write her something and you’ll be amazed at the reaction,” he said.
“Dear John” may not inspire awe in audiences as a cinematic masterpiece, but it will warm the hearts of Charleston lovers everywhere, and maybe even inspire some faith in love.