Dear John 3 out of 5

I read the book... actually liked the book and I had not picked up a Nicholas Sparks read in a long time. If you read the book, you'll sit through the movie picking out all the things that were changed that really didn't nead to be, at least that's what I did. One HUGE thing in particular that my roomie and viewing partner found "creepy" about the movie (her words, not mine) was changed and I just can't figure out why it had to be changed at all. I gave it a 3 out of 5 because had I not read the book, it would have been a decent romantic movie, released just in time for Valentine's Day weekend with good actors in the lead roles. If I was basing my review solely on the book to movie, it would be much lower.

I know, I know, the book is always better. I've read plenty of books and seen their movie counterparts to know that. But what always gets me are the little changes that I, as the reader, just don't get. These things stayed with me from my time of reading the book for a reason and really they would not have impacted the overall movie (as in time or general story) at all. I relayed all the changes to my roomie that really bugged me and her response was, 'well all that sounds like it would have been a lot better had they just left that how it was.'

I will say that as I was reading Dear John, I felt as if Sparks wrote this with the intention of it being turned into a film (which I am sure is always in his mind now that he had silver screen success). I'll also say that I ran into friends on my exit from the theatre who were wiping their tears and I asked 'did you read the book?' One responded yes and despite my frustrations, she still shed a tear.