By Bob Fischbach
WORLD-HERALD STAFF WRITER

Here's a Valentine movie lots of ladies will want to drag their boyfriend/spouse/significant other to see. Or, failing that, a group of girlfriends.

“Dear John” stars hunky Channing Tatum (“Step Up,” “Stop-Loss”) as John Tyree, an Army soldier posted overseas who falls in love during a brief home leave. He vows to return when his hitch is up, but then 9/11 happens. What to do?

The movie is a two-hanky affair that milks sentiment at every turn, including several sad plot points that feel fairly manufactured. That should be no surprise since it's based on a novel by Nicholas Sparks. Other Sparks novels turned into sentimental movies include the fairly decent “The Notebook” and “A Walk to Remember,” as well as less successful weepers like “Message in a Bottle” and “Nights in Rodanthe.”
None of them has a very credible story line.

Still, “Dear John” is a competently made and acted movie, with an interesting creative team. The script is by Jamie Linden, who wrote the screenplay for the true-story football tragedy “We Are Marshall.”

More promising still, director Lasse Hallström has a great track record that includes “Chocolat,” “The Cider House Rules,” “What's Eating Gilbert Grape” and “My Life as a Dog,” all Academy Award nominees.

“Dear John” won't be an Oscar contender, but it will satisfy audiences looking for a sentimental journey as part of their Valentine's Day season.

It helps that John's hometown is beautiful Charleston, S.C., and that John just happens to be a surfer. Since Tatum is an accomplished athlete and a former model, his surfboard rides are eye candy. Likewise, Amanda Seyfried (“Mamma Mia!”), who plays his love interest, Savannah, is a looker.

Tatum and Seyfried are both decent actors, and Hallström's direction keeps this more emotionally honest than it might have been in other hands. Key scenes work because they are well played, well edited and filmed.

Two supporting players are also worth mentioning. Henry Thomas, who became famous as a child actor playing Elliott in “E.T.,” is cast as Savannah's neighbor, Tim, a single dad with a young autistic son. Savannah and the little boy are close, and she gradually realizes she would like a career in special education.

The first wrinkle in the love story happens when Savannah suggests to John that his father also might be mildly autistic.

Mr. Tyree (Richard Jenkins, “The Visitor”) is a compulsive coin collector who talks little, has trouble expressing affection and cooks the same dish on the same day of every week. Meatloaf is Tuesdays. Lasagna is Sundays. He and John have a strained relationship because of these quirks and the disappearance of John's mother. Scenes between John and his dad are the movie's best.

Surprisingly, it's the montages of John's military duty in war zones that feel most tedious and least real.

But the sentiment is mined to full effect. Keep your hanky handy — and enjoy.

Contact the writer:
444-1269, bob.fischbach@owh.com