'Dear John' follows rules of romance to the letter

Not all "Dear John" letters are kiss-offs.

Some of them are kissy kissy, especially when they are the central force in a Nicholas Sparks plot. Since the almost-local Sparks writes highly popular novels that hail the beauty of the North Carolina coast, we tend to put up with his often over-ripe melodramas. He also hails the New South as a land of restored mansions, country clubs and lovely romance that has hardly gone with the wind.

If it's fantasy, it's fantasy that sells. His readers aren't likely to question things any more than the people who have bought tickets to the five movies that have been made from his novels.

"Dear John" delivers a highly attractive couple cavorting on gorgeous South Carolina beaches with sunsets in the background and a lot of what gets the juices flowing in novels by Sparks.

Although the novel is set in Wilmington, N.C., the film was shot in and around Charleston, S.C., complete with Spanish moss and, presumably, mint juleps on the veranda. The John of the title is a special forces soldier who meets a conservative girl named Savannah (who is, ironically, from Charleston) when he dives into the surf to rescue her purse. He is a surfer when not on active duty.

In no time (two summer weeks, to be specific) they are much in love, but he must return to the war. They will keep their love alive through letters for the rest of his tour. Then, 9/11 occurs and things change.

She fumes and wonders just how long love letters will be enough.

It is apparent early on that the movie is determined to include all the cliches of the genre, or at least most of them. Their first kiss is, you guessed it, in pouring rain. Later, they don't just kiss, she runs and jumps at him and throws her legs around his waist while they kiss. There are tearful farewells and lots of earnest longing.

There never is that scene when the two lovers rush to each other across an open field and meet in a clinch in the middle. Omitting that must have required great restraint.

The success of movies like this has a great deal to do with casting. Channing Tatum is disarmingly natural in a kind of "aw shucks," L'il Abner way in a role that proves he can carry a film and that continues his steady path to top stardom.

His character is pretty nigh perfect in every way, even if there are hints he might have been a bad boy somewhere in the past.

His father, played well by the always-reliable Richard Jenkins (an Oscar nominee for "The Visitor") is a possibly autistic loner who collects coins and is among the wounded suffering from an earlier walkout by the wife and mother in the family. (Sparks seems to be greatly interested in autism, which is represented here by two characters.)

Less distinctive is the bug-eyed Amanda Seyfried (Meryl Streep's spoiled, lying daughter in "Mamma Mia!"), who is saddled with a somewhat unsympathetic character.

Henry Thomas, who was the little boy in "E.T.," plays a neighbor whose wife seems to always be away on vacation.

Sparks, according to our last contact with him, lives in New Bern, N.C., and centers his novels in the Carolinas. He is the rare writer who made his own career by publishing on his own and putting his books on sale with his own investment. We talked to him way back when success was still new and he was being courted by Hollywood. He wondered whether Brad Pitt was the right choice for the adaptation of one of his novels to screen. (He was having lunch with Pitt later that week.) Pitt never did make a movie based on a Sparks novel, but a number of other stars have.

"Dear John" is not in the same league as "Message in a Bottle," the 1999 film based on a Sparks novel and starring Paul Newman, Kevin Costner and Robin Wright Penn. But it still wears its heart on its sleeve and knows exactly what its audience wants.

Lasse Hallstrom, the outstanding Swedish director who made "My Life as a Dog," gives this film a polished look (and probably deserves some credit for the performance of novice Tatum).

Sparks fans had better take their romance where they can find it. His next film adaptation is "The Last Song" and will star Miley Cyrus - a prospect that does not fill us with hope. We could wait a long time for that one but, unfortunately, we only have to wait until April 2.

Mal Vincent, (757) 446-2347, mal.vincent@pilotonline.com