Wednesday, February 3, 2010

Dear John Spoiler Review (Book vs Movie)

NON SPOILER POST HERE

********SPOILER WARNING - THIS POST CONTAINS SPOILERS **********


Dear John - - - I enjoyed you very much but I am frustrated at the many changes you made between book and movie. I can't even recall all of them, they were so numerous I almost whipped out my blackberry to take notes, but stopped after remembering the lady sitting near me getting angry at someone whose ringer went off during previews... not me.... thank goodness....

The novel was good, I enjoyed it though there were parts that went off on uneccessary tangents, I knew the movie would cut those out, and for that I was thankful....

but the changes... why the changes?

First of all, John get shot?

Yes, I understand you want to open with something dramatic, and you want to have his memories of coins draw us in to wonder why? why the coins?

But, did you have to shoot John? I appreciated the extra scene of Channing Tatum topless as we zoomed in on his bullet scars, but the novel doesn't have him shot... this set me off from the first minute of the movie and made it challenging for me to fully enjoy....

The next major change that disrupted my movie-going experience was Allan and Tim... the novel clearly states that Savannah, Tim and Allan grew up together... why did you make Allan Tim's son? I actually wanted to pause and rewind [sadly this is not yet a movie theatre option] to check that he actually called Allan "Son" and Tim was married already? where do you come up with this?

Another issue I had with Tim was the hospital scene.... the main part that made Nicholas Sparks novel so interesting and controversial in my mind morally was when Tim thinks he is dying and offers his wife to John.

The movie skipped this entirely!!!!

Tim was all wrong, wrong actor, wrong lines, wrong wardrobe, what happened to going to church - that was a great time to bond the three of them, which would lead to all the more shock when Savannah marries Tim....

I will give you credit, when the wedding photo of Tim and Savannah popped on screen half the theatre (who obviously hadn't read the book and was on this journey with Dear John that was completely opposite of mine) gasped in disbelief... how? what? Tim? They all said in shock...

Other alterations that baffled my brain hard....

  • surfing, Savannah is supposed to pick it up first wave
  • first date, John takes her to Shrimp Shack in the novel... in the movie you had her decide where to go and him be unsure.... yes it set up the "don't come around here no more, you were a bad ass 3 years ago" line but really? not worth it, the "what's this scar from" talk in the movie was sufficient.
  • First date again, the "I wanna meet your dad..... NOW" was lame... too rushed, the whole theatre laughed at how absurd it came across.
  • After Tim's broken nose, Tim comes to see John... not John going to find Savannah and their first "I Love You" is written in the book - wtf?
  • NOT TO MENTION (ok I am going to) Tim lives in the beach house next door? why? why does he have a beach house and a son?
  • In the book John isn't there when his father dies, though I have to say the scene where Mr. Tyree holds John's hand in the hospital was the time that I cried in the movie.... so emotional
  • Why did we try to take Mr Tyree to Savannah's parents house? Granted it allowed Richard Jenkins to shine in that role, but it was otherwise uneeded... except to show John's time was limited and he had to spend it with his dad or Savannah BUT... that leads me to my next bewildered moment..
  • WHY were his visits home and breaks all discombobulated? In the book he has his leaves and right befor eone of them (which he plans to spend with Savannah) his dad has the heart attack so he has to go home early and spend it with his dad, versus the movie where he has one night off and flies alllllll the way home ? What happened to his other visits? I felt the college visit and Savannah having a "life" was deterimental in foreshadowing the eventual demise of their relationship (though never their love)
  • I already mentioned the shooting
  • The "you're re-enlisting" scene after 9/11 happens at Savannah's parents in the movie, in the book it's while he is away
  • Allan rides his bike home from hospital each day in the book, in the movie he is given a ride and Tim isn't in his hospital room he's in the lobby area
  • The build up to Tim's illness isn't in the movie, She basically says he is sick right away
  • The movie hasmore humour from Randy, which I appreciated "I was going to go in and get the purse"
  • Underwater scenes in movie and surfing after his dad died (in the book of course he comes home for the heart attack, then he returns overseas returning after his dad's died)
  • The "story" of John's dad's obsession with coin is because of a weird coin John got from the ice cream man... this is NOT how it goes in the book... though I did like how the first coin guy tried to rip John off as a kid and his dad "sensed" it (like Autistic children can) and then they learned it's true value.
  • After the first 2 weeks together she gives him a going away present (PS he leaves, she doesn't leave for school.... she stays to build the house... OH AND HE NEVER helps with the house in the book, though I never got why, so I am glad he did in the movie....) ANYWAYS.... the gift she gives him is a book on autism, which is when they fight over "are you studying my dad? you think he's a retard?" happens.


    I am sure there are many more, but those ones pop into my head first... and strongest... BOTTOM LINE - so much changed and I don't know why... I wish I knew why you changed so much... but Dear John I still love you, however, I think I love you more as a book... um, with the exception of topless Channing Tatum. Thank-you for that....

    Your Always,
    Mandy

    --------------------------------------------------------

    Don't get me wrong, I really enjoyed the flick, as I said in my NON SPOILER POST HERE. It's just that I hate when films make adaptations that are not neccessary (like in the last Harry Potter movie when ********SPOILER*********** Dumbledore dies... in the book they had all the wands up and the service... the movie just kinda ended.... wtf?!!?

    Maybe I am just hard to please?

    If you have read it and seen it please comment....

    PS - Amanda Seyfried sings in the movie too - random!
  • 10 comments:

    nancita said...

    I agree with you 100% on all the changes. I had also read the book before the movie and I, too found a lot of unnecessary changes and sometimes I felt it was "rushed" for lack of a better word. Great review and attention to detail!

    April said...

    I haven't seen the movie yet but I read the book... and this sooo disapoints me!! :( It makes me really doubt whether I want to see it or not! I know I will only because I love Channing Tatum and Amanda Seyfried but so disapointing! Why do they have to do this!!

    Bella said...

    I agree with you on every single point! When reading the book, I loved all the detail of the first weeks they spend together...how they meet, how they fall in love, their fights and struggles and dreams and promises...in the movie, I felt rushed! They met, they were a couple and all of a sudden, she's already breaking up with him...

    I don't know, the movie failed to capture me. I couldn't put the book down! The biggest problem to me was the ending...the book's ending was heartbreaking, it felt real, it hurt, it conveyed so many emotions! The movie's ending suggests that they stay together or at least see each other one more time after Tim dies...didn't like the fact that they completely changed it to make it a typical fairytale ending...

    Good review :)

    Unknown said...

    I agree with you about the changes! apparently they had the ending in the movie as it was in the book... but then they made a reshoot.... i wonder if the first ending is available...

    Anonymous said...

    I haven't read the book yet, but maybe they want this movie having a twist.typical fairytale ending yeah. I like sad endings than the usual happy endings its so common. I love this movie. but I want to read also the book.

    Anonymous said...

    I am a male mid 50's. After seeing the movie I have to read the book. I find myself lost in the mind of John. I to have experienced a heart break like John's, to this day I still think about it and it happened over 35 years ago. The feelings are so deep, this movie and I suspect the book catch the essence of what a person really feels. It just shows how unfair life really is.

    Anonymous said...

    wow some one who gets what I say when I vomplain about movies not matching up to the books. I soooooooooooo agree with all the changes the movie had me going like what? for a couple of times...the book captivated me and I read it like in 2 days but the movie was...you right RUSHED...why it would have been too long to be a movie but why the unessesary changes like TIM's role?

    Anonymous said...

    Hi everyone I’m the mid 50’s male; I did read the book twice and look what I found. The movie alludes to the fact that Tim had a master plan; he did it’s in both the movie and the book. In the movie Tim comes right out and says it. In the book it’s all there but you have to put the pieces together.

    The book was great. But the ending was different for me. Hidden in the book were clues about Tim’s role in breaking up Savannah and John. Tim always loved Savannah and when John reenlisted after 911 Tim saw Savannah’s heart was broken more than ever. This is when Tim put a plan in to action; he was determined to fix Savannah’s broken heart and hopefully have her fall in love with him. Tim knew everything about Savannah and her and her family and used that information against Savannah when she was most vulnerable. There was nothing random except Tim’s parents dying about how Savannah fell in love with Tim, even though that’s what Savannah thinks and what she tells John. Tim asking John to take care of Savannah if he died was the only option Tim had and this is where John learns the most important thing to him is Savannah’s happiness, no matter how painful the choices you face might be. Anyone would have done what Tim did. This is why I see the book ending as a tragedy. Savannah loves John more than ever but stays with Tim to save his life and John makes the greats sacrifices of his life selling his dad’s coin collection giving Tim the money and giving up his one true love Savannah. Tim got everything while everyone else suffered in silence. John’s wrong about Tim being a better man than him, John’s by far the better man, and there is no comparison. It’s now a year later the book ends with Tim being cured of cancer, Savannah stays with Tim despite her love for John and John feels completely alone despite his love for Savannah. John is witnessing what he calls a miracle when Savannah comes out to look at the full moon, this is the tragedy, if it wasn’t for Tim’s medaling Savannah and John would be together. Tim’s more concerned about his own happiness rather than anyone else’s thinking that if he’s happy so is Savannah, if he really loved and cared about Savannah’s he’d let her go. Savannah and John should have had a chance to see how their relationship would have developed. Love at first sight is as real as it gets, it’s one of the most deeply felt loves because somehow your soles feel like they’re connected, like two becoming one.

    jen @ one curly fry said...

    I saw the movie first. And I absolutely LOVED it. It probably doesn’t hurt that Channing Tatum is absolutely gorgeous! LOL! But anyways…like I said I adored the movie.

    I’ve watched it over and over and over. I can’t get enough. The other day I decided that I should read the book. I read it all in the same day. It was nice to be able to put some faces to names. I will agree that the book and movie have a number of differences. A few bothered me. Others, I welcomed.

    I’m sure that if I read the book first, I would’ve been disappointed in the movie. But since I saw the movie first, I can't say I'm disappointed! I didn't like the book's ending. Because don't we all want John & Savannah together in the end?

    Michelle Walker said...

    I agree about the changes but the movie is BASED on the book therefore it doesn't have to be word for word exact and a few changes can be made. However k do thing that a few too many changes were made. Like for instance, another chanel that was made was that in the book savannah was described as being brunette yet Amanda seyfried is blonde.. Minor casting issue.. But despite the changes I live both the book and the movie and jut because you have read the book t doesn't mean you should be put off from seeing the film as it is also amazing an very enotional. And yes the ending of the film is different to the book but if you buy the DVD there is an option in the special features where you can see the 'alternate ending' which I believe is the same ending as the book has.. God knows why they didn't jut use that ending