Don't Believe the Hype

A film with more than the usual spoiler issues. Talking about it in any detail feels akin to handing you a gift-wrapped present and saying, "I hope you like it -- It's a thriller about a diabolical secret experiment."

It's funny, it's tense, it features two great performances from two actors and the director expertly creates a web of odd tension where you actually don't know what is happening for the majority of the run time.

It is neither dumb nor smart enough to be fun, and spends way too much time with its boring human characters.

It's amazing and a great movie based off of an even greater book!!

As a 29-year old male, "The Best Of Me" was not a movie I would typically watch. But, it just happened to be "let someone else pick the movie for a change" night and so I gave it a try. While it isn't an outright horrible flick, it was exactly what I expected...and that's not why I watched movies.For a basic plot summary, "Best of Me" tells the story of Amanda (Michelle Monaghan) & Dawson (James Marsden), two 30-something adults brought back to their mutual hometown by the death of a friend. As they get re-acquainted, their romantic backstory is shown via flashbacks, with Young Amanda (Liano Liberato) and Young Dawson (Luke Bracey) navigating the trials of young love. Back in the present, the two must reconcile the lives that were with the lives that are.The trouble with this movie is that it is exactly as predictable and sappy as one would think...nothing more, nothing less. If you are a sucker for these types of movies and like to know what to expect when going in, than you will probably love this type of film-making. However, if you want a few genuine surprises and relationships that don't feel like they are being heavy manipulated to stimulate tears and tug on the heartstrings, than you should probably stay away.An interesting thought when it comes to Nicholas Sparks book-to-film translations: I don't have any "hard numbers" to back me up on this, of course, but I think it is a pretty safe bet that "The Notebook" has best the most well-received. I know young and old (and many in between) who have thoroughly enjoyed that flick. The reason? It was first. Everything after that has kind of been a different variation on the same theme: sappy romance with large doses of tragedy. I wonder if perhaps the novelty is wearing a bit thin with films like this one.That being said, it seems like there are easily enough people who like this formula and will continue to populate theaters for it. If you are able to take everything strictly at face value and not think too much, I can see how it would be very possible to get swept away in the dramatic experience. Nothing wrong with that...but not my cup of tea by a mile.

I rarely hate the first half of a movie so much that i have to turn it off. The mistake i made with this movie was to trust the cinematography quality was a reflection that there was better material to come in the second half of the movie, like maybe better compared to the awful script, acting and casting of the earlier part. Somehow IMDb ratings average 6.6. This is the first joke. There's a 25 year old muscle guy acting as a 17/18 year old school kid, some redneck stereotypes, a boring as hell rich-girl-likes-a-bad-boy storyline, and just the most ugly and predictable storyline I have almost ever seen. I feel bad for the two older actors james marsden and michelle monaghan who have done good stuff in other movies. Why this movie was made I don't know. What a joke.

I usually read the book before I go see the movie, but I hadn't in this case. The love story of Amanda and Dawson is beautifully told with flashbacks (I often hate them but they didn't bother me at all in this movie) and their present day life. Luke Bracey and Liana Liberato really do an awesome job as the young Dawson and Amanda and I love Michelle Monoghan and James Marsden as their older versions. Gerald McRaney is perfectly cast as Tuck, Dawson's "surrogate" father. The scenery/decor is amazing on screen especially Tuck's garden en the water tower. The only negative is the predictable and obviously unwanted ending. As soon as Jared was in the hospital you knew what the outcome would be. It also went a little too fast, like they quickly had to put an end to it. I loved The Horsewhisperer and like that book/movie the male lead was the hero and also the "loser" of the story. In short I very much enjoyed The best of me, but I still wish for a better ending.