A Walk to Remember (2002)

Perfect Love Story

"A Walk to Remember." Understand my full meaning when I say that this movie, an adaptation of Nicholas Sparks' novel of the same name, is my favorite love story. Period. I know there are parts that have room for improvement, such as the dialogue in the beginning, but I love this movie like I love every good story. Unreasonably and fully.

I first saw this movie when I was in high school. I caught it in the middle during an airing on HBO, and was captivated by how Landon (Shane West) and Jamie (Mandy Moore) came together, how it not only sent Landon on a soul searching path to redemption, it also enriched Jamie's life in a way that is hard to describe. The performances are pitch perfect, but so genuine and underplayed that you almost forget you're watching a movie, which is an effect that only a handful of films had ever had on me... and I've watched thousands of movies. So in seeing the second half of this movie, I knew I had to have it... and was ecstatic to see that it was playing again directly after the first airing. I taped it and, as I was home sick the entire next week, I must have watched it at least once each day. Twice, on some. I bought the DVD soon after.

Few movies are as sincere as this one and, while it does delve into very lovey dovey territory, it never feels gooey or false. This movie is a celebration of faith, love, change, life, and death, and it will always be in my Top Five.

10/10 Classic. August 12, 2008

I am a giant crybaby...

I absolutely love this movie, however I can still not make myself watch it all the way to the end. I like to just imagine how it ends rather than finding out what really happened. Heartbreaking love story, wonderful movie. A must see unless you are a giant crybaby like me, then you'll know when to turn it off. June 11, 2008

Great Movie

Great movie, I'd reccomend this to anyone who is looking for a good romantic plotlined movie. Be warned... you will probably cry. June 3, 2008

Everything about this was great except....

I didnt like find out that Mandy Moore's character has lukemia and dies. That was sad. April 15, 2008

lugubrious and badly directed, but touching.

Technically, this film is putrid. It suffers from every hollywood sin imagineable. Characters are poorly developed, the plot is choppy and inconsistent, the cliches are utterly blatant, and the movie is predictable. In short, it is your average syrupy dip of cotton candy fluff.

Yet, I am ashamed to say that there is something redeeming about this film. There is a certain poignant, hidden honesty. Perhaps the movie pulls on the universal strings of human nature in the right way.

You have the damsel in distress. The bad dude who saves her, and, in turn, is saved. The father who hates him, but grows to appreciate him. Oh, and sundry bathos filled scenes that blatantly attempt to pull the tears from your lacrimal glands.

Like an under-ager sneeking cigarrette, this movie is a guilty pleasure. It is hard to hate Mandy Moore's character (however inconsistent her development). She is uber-innocent, exists in a ethereal world, and is picked on by all of the people you hated in high-school. She gives this film what life it has. The viewer feels a certain attraction to her-even if this attraction is contrived in formulaic fashion.

One must note the irony here. The movie is making a moral point of telling you that it is not cool to pick on dorks, geeks, or what have you. Yet, in order to make us feel guilty for picking on the weak and meek, they choose a beautiful, lustrous young woman. Who would pick on her?! I guess it would not have the same resonance if they picked an ugly, importunate dork. Owell, such are the foibles of mankind.

At any rate, I found it hard to despise this mawkish flick despite its blatant limitations. Perhaps, in some quixotic universe, unalloyed love and redemption do exist. Perhaps pure salvation is possible. At the least, sane humans hope for such things. To paraphrase a classic quote from the movie, hope is like the wind, you can't see it but you can sure feel it!! (facetiousness intended)

To all the lugubrious souls in the world, it might be alright to spend a few hours watching this film. Your time could be spent doing worse things. March 23, 2008

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