If you enter the theater with a healthy combination of low expectations and an open mind, Dear John, the latest Nicholas Sparks adaptation, is a sweet, enjoyable, and relevant film. On leave from the army, John Tyree (Channing Tatum) meets Savannah Curtis (Amanda Seyfried), a college student on spring break. They fall in love, but have only two weeks to spend together before he returns to duty. He promises her that he’ll be back for good after a year and their relationship develops through a series of letters as he travels the world with the Special Forces. Ultimately, however, they end up in a place that neither one of them could have imagined.

The two leads have undeniable chemistry. Tatum, Hollywood’s go-to guy for the brawny, sensitive type, owns a role that plays perfectly to these qualities. He’s a solid presence in the film. Seyfried, one of the more talented up-and-coming actresses of her generation, infuses a warmth and authenticity into her role, which takes on an unexpected edge once the complexity of her character is revealed.

It could have been the quintessential love story but, in the Nicholas Sparks tradition, there are a few notable touches of realism that prevent the movie from becoming completely flat or predictable. Arguably, the most interesting people in the film are the supporting characters: Savannah’s neighbor, Tim (Henry Thomas) and his autistic son Alan, and John’s father (Richard Jenkins). Jenkins, in particular, gives the most touching and memorable performance as the quiet, coin-collecting Mr. Tyree. Although the film didn’t directly depict the real struggle of raising an autistic child (I overheard one theatergoer refer to the portrayal of Alan as “Hollywood autism”), Tim and Alan drive the action and define the story in a way that challenges the main characters to re-examine their relationships and themselves.
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Fish Tank is about a girl with so little light or potential for escape in her life that she transforms at even the hint of a feeling she has no idea how to handle – happiness. With a striking, powerful debut from newcomer Katie Jarvis, Andrea Arnold's sophomore feature (she debuted with the equally remarkable Red Road, which is

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Michael Hoffman's The Last Station is a period dramedy with individual elements that undeniably work but that never gels into a complete film. It's so cluttered with characters and ideas that it's impossible to wrap your head or heart around the proceedings. There are good performances in the piece, two of which have been nominated for an Academy Award, and the

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The original District B13 (2004) was an adrenalin-fueled martial arts orgy that became a worldwide cult hit. The main question surrounding its sequel, District 13: Ultimatum is essentially what took so long? Unlike a lot of sequels, this franchise has lost no momentum at all in its second installment. The main players are back including the two incredibly charismatic stars and

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I imagine Adam Green's highly buzzed Frozen might have played more effectively when it unspooled at the Sundance Film Festival in Park City, Utah at the base of a mountain not unlike the one that basically serves as the villain in this "Open Water on a chairlift." Who says there are no new ideas in the world of horror? Give

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When the Oscar nominees were announced earlier this week, you had probably heard of a few little movies like Avatar, The Blind Side, and District 9, but it’s pretty safe to say that one of the more unheralded nominees came from a little film called The Last Station. Both lead actress Helen Mirren and supporting actor Christopher

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When in Rome is the cinematic equivalent of gorging yourself with a bag of candy. At first it seems tasty, pleasurable even, and goes down easily enough. But then things start to turn and you start to feel worse with every bite until you’re sick to your stomach. Ultimately, you find yourself wondering why you picked up the bag in the first place.

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The 82nd annual Academy Award nominations were announced earlier today (see the clip below for the announcement), and, per usual, there's a couple things that might make you shake your head in disbelief. The thing everyone will be talking about is the expansion of the Best Picture category to 10 films. (See our piece on What if the 10 Nominee Rule Had

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By now, you’ve probably been exposed to a lot of conflicting opinions on James Cameron’s Avatar. You've probably read more than a few rave reviews and a fair number of less than flattering ones. You may even have friends divided along those same lines. This writer, for example, loved the film and totally bought into the entire spectacle and thoroughly enjoyed the

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Well-paced, emotionally complex, and expertly performed, Martin Campbell's Edge of Darkness is a surprisingly effective film, a stand-out in a month that hasn't exactly started the new decade with an abundance of quality. Featuring not just Mel Gibson's first performance in nearly a decade but also one of the best of his entire career, this remake of the award-winning BBC

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