So, this weekend I basically get reamed for saying how sappy The Notebook was. A couple of young ladies told me they cried and cried during that movie, which leads me to believe I am still spot on, if not generous with my “C” review. No offense to either of the lovely ladies that shared their story with me however. Personally I think Nicholas Sparks novels are too sappy for feature films. I am telling you, love just doesn’t run that deep. I know you ladies want it to, but I am telling you, it doesn’t. Hell, I want it to, but if it did I might be bogged down in love poems and roses. I know my bank account would certainly take a major hit. Yikes!
So, when I hear that New Line Cinema is going to once again go the Sparks route with “Dear John” with Channing Tatum attached to star, I start to cry a little. See ladies, I can cry too, but mine is for good reason. This guy can’t act.
The last time I saw Tatum on screen he was dancing for two of his male friends outside an arts school where he was serving community service (Step Up). The scene was ridiculous and the entire movie was dreadful. The guy appears to be a meat head. Granted, I am told I need to see A Guide To Recognizing Your Saints, but I am not sure I want to waste the time.
As for “Dear John” the story follows a soldier (Tatum) who is home on leave and falls hard for a gorgeous but conservative college student. Though they plan to wed, time and distance take a toll on their commitment to each other. Um, that sounds almost exactly like The Notebook! Man, I am really down on this one.
Hopefully, Kimberly Peirce’s Stop Loss will change my tone on Tatum by the time this film gets released, but I am not counting on it.
Another Sparks adaptation is also getting underway with Nights of Rodanthe starring Richard Gere and Diane Lane. That pic is set up at Warner Bros. Gere will play a doctor who is traveling to reconcile with his estranged son. On the way, he checks into an inn in a North Carolina beach town. There, he has a life-changing romance with a woman who’s trying to decide whether to stay in her unhappy marriage. At least it cast a couple of appropriate actors.
