A Walk to Remember
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Movie Reviews of A Walk to Remember
Movie Review: Simple Love Told So Well ...
Summary: 5 Stars
"A Walk To Remember" is a special film for that special romantic. Rarely does a film like this come along, relying on simplicity and emotion to capture the soul. Shane West does an amazing job portraying "Landon Carter," the school hotshot who transforms into a sincere individual and transforms those around him along the way. West can be found in nearly every scene, and never loses that realistic image of someone struggling to turn his life around.Mandy Moore is stunning in her first lead role, showing how someone's feelings for her character can affect her own strength and confidence. Moore goes from self-disciplined and confident to passive (upon receiving a gift from "Landon"), to fragile (after a school prank) to eventually accepting of someone's love. Moore's simplicity in her role is heartfelt and believeable, leaving the viewer wishing that he/she could have had the opportunity to see Moore's and West's characters spend their last summer together.
The soundtrack is absolutely wonderful, and shines from the contributions of Mandy Moore and the band, Switchfoot. I raced out and bought the soundtrack, as well as the DVD, after only one viewing of the film on HBO. Ironically, the only song that doesn't fit the mix is the one provided by Shane West's band.
Fans of the movie will love the DVD's special features. There is Mandy's outstanding video for "Cry", weaving the film's theme into the track, as well as audio commentaries. I prefer the one provided by author, Nicholas Sparks and screenwriter, Karen Janszen, who give fine insight regarding why the film's storyline was altered from the novel, and the special meanings of several scenes. The other commentary, provided by West, Moore, and director, Adam Shankman, is quite humorous, but the three have a tendency to refer to several scenes as "cheesy", which actually discredits the film.
Why the critics pass on gems like this is a mystery to me. They pan these films, which rely on faith and the power of simplistic love, and rave about bizarre storylines filled with violence, sex and anything else with shock value. "Moulan Rouge", "Chicago", "Monster's Ball", and "The Hours" may be loved by the critics, but none of them met box office expectations. "A Walk To Remember" grossed approximately $40 million. Not bad for a film which cost $10 million to make, featured actors with minimal Hollywood exposure, and was passed up by The Academy for being a teen film. I'm 39 years old and have now watched it close to three dozen times. You don't have to be under 20 years old to have a deep love and respect for this film.
I only hope Mandy Moore doesn't fall into the teen comedy movie syndrome, though I have read she has a couple of such films opening later this year. It can't be helped, I imagine. Its hard to start at the top, which she has done after giving such a powerful performance in "A Walk to Remember."
Movie Review: The Best Move Ever
Summary: 5 Stars
OMG! This is my Favorite movie~!
I have watched it a total of 24 times. That might not be that much. I watch it when ever I can. Everytime I watch it, I still Cry. The first time I saw it, I was crying though the WHOLE movie..My whole face was red and after that I thought...I Love this movie so I watched it 3 more times that day. This Movie was amazing..Just the fact that some "popular dude gets introble. So he has to be in a play and help after school, Than a young girl (who everyone thought was a loser, because of her beliefs,clothes and how nice she was to everyone)
Than he asks her to help him with the play (but hang ot in sectent so his friends will not know) and she tells him she will only if he Promises her he will not fall in love with her. He thiks, that he will never ever fall in love whith her. But than, the night of the play he sees how beautiful she is with her hair down and curled and her amazing dress..not to mention her Amazing voice, he changes it up a little and kisses her @ the end(cry scene) Now, he is staring to love her!
but his friends dont like this, so they make fun of her and put her face on a pic of a women wearing almost anything and write:vergin mary on it and gives everyone it, than he stands up for her with a breif fight with his "old" friend. Now he asks her out but she says she cant. So he asks her dad for permission. Than they go out and have a really nice time. After her telling him her to-do list before she dies, (eailer she says she wants to...Be in 2 places @ once, wittness a maricle,get a tatto..but than he asks her what is #1 and she will not tell) So he makes her close her eyes and put one foot on each side of the line (of the border) so she is two places @ once (omg that part made me cry soo bad, just the thought of him doing that for her) Than he makes her get a tatto. Than they are talking and he says he loves her and all she has to say is "I told u not to fall in love with me) Than they are walking one night and she tells him she is sick and he tells her, 'i will take u home u will be beter tomorow" but she says "no, i am sick, I have lukimia" and he says, "no, your perfect"(OMG THAT IS SAD) (By the way, he buys her a star--Soo cute) he is building her a teliscope than she gets really sick and faints ( has to go to hospital, so he stays with her the whole time. she gives him a book. than when she comes home they are sitting out side and he askes her to marry him (because the one thing she wants to do before she dies is get married in the curch her mom and dad got married in) so they do. Than a little after that she dies, (SOOO SAD0) ok I am sorry if my summary is a little confusing or out of order..but yeah
-in conclusion, I LOVE THIS MOVIE
Movie Review: beautiful
Summary: 5 Stars
Having watched this movie repeatedly (and I mean REPEATEDLY) and being touched by it every time, I am really inspired by the message it gives. But you're either going to love it for its sincerity or avoid it because of its sugar-coated cover. It is an EXTREMELY sensitive film--perhaps the softest and most sensitive that I have ever seen. And yes, there are quite a few cliches, and some parts of the movie are predictable. But I just love it. There are some pretty intense scenes that blow you away, and it's very passionately acted. This movie had a truly great cast. Mandy Moore makes a very heartfelt and gentle major-role debut on the big screen; if you watch this and then watch her in her role in "The Princess Diaries," you'll be surprised at how different her acting style was in each. And of course, Shane West delivers the same solid and well-acted performance he has always shown...he and Mandy worked well together, and theyw were well supported by the rest of the cast.Some people have said that the romance story and the whole plot is unrealistic, but I find it very beautiful and heartwarming. You might get sleepy with it after a while if you watch it too many times, but the quality and the innocence of it all makes it a teen classic in my eyes. BELIEVE me, this is not another typical teen romance film. It surpasses the obvious expectations of a typical teen movie and brings you something that you can admire and be inspired by. If you're the type who cries at all during movies, then this one will put you through a whole box of Kleenex; if you don't cry, then you'll have the chills because it's so beautiful. But judging from the amazing feedback this movie has already received, I'm sure you've heard it all. It's unlike anything else--and the DVD commentary with Mandy Moore, Shane West, and director Adam Shankman is outstanding. It had me laughing and crying, and the three of them really got into it. They talked constantly throughout the entire film and shared their personal memories from making it--and there were some pretty interesting things that were behind each scene. You can really tell what chemistry they had while working together on this movie. The DVD doesn't have many extras--just the commentary I described above, another from the screenwriter and Nicholas Sparks (the author of the book of the same name), filmographies for the cast, and a Mandy Moore music video. But to me, the wholesome film and the commentary with Mandy, Shane, and Adam made it well worth the money. This has gone down as one of my favorite movies of all time, the very first DVD I ever bought, and a different approach to real love than what you've typically seen from teens on the big screen.
Movie Review: The Best PG-Rated Romance
Summary: 5 Stars
It is hard to make a PG-rated romance, because you can't simply use sex scenes to show the feelings which the couple has for each other and to imply the degree of intimacy in the relationship. You can't paint with such broad strokes. Instead, you must use a narrower brush to depict all the small but significant things which bring the two closer together. It is also hard to make a movie reflecting traditional Christian values, especially a romance, and yet appeal to a wide audience. It is problematic to communicate beliefs without being preachy, the only solution being to show through examples rather than to tell through sermons. A Walk to Remember succeeds in both endeavors and is in my opinion both the best PG-rated romance as well as the closest thing to a Christian film (in mainstream media) in recent memory. It is truly a breakthrough event.The characters are well-developed, the acting is superb (this is pop singer Mandy Moore's debut BTW), the pacing and picture is perfect, and the soundtrack is great. But it's the story based on a novel by Nicholas Sparks which will be most remembered. A note to prospective viewers who may have some misconceptions concerning this film: This is not a superficial teen romance, nor is it a feel-good romantic comedy. It is a romance in the classical sense of the word, a serious exploration of the emotional journey experienced by two young people who are truly and deeply in love.
Although the stereotypical target audience for this movie may consist of teenage girls from the Bible belt, I am none of the above. For starters, I am a guy who is not generally into "chick flicks." Of the DVD's in my top twenty collection, only two or three could qualify as such while the rest consist of such "manly fare" as "The Matrix," "Platoon," and "A Better Tomorrow II." Additionally, although I am a Christian, I generally stay away from so-called "Christian music" and "Christian movies" because frankly much of it ... and I suspect that the reason it is labelled or marketted as such is to get people to buy it just because it's "Christian." I like to consider myself as having some independence and objectivity in my assessment of artistic merit. However, this also means not having a negative bias just because the subject of a movie happens to be a good person, a spiritual person from a Christian background, the minister's daughter. Anyway, I appreciated this movie tremendously even though I am not part of the "target audience" and I believe that I am not alone. I gave this movie a chance initially because I was seeking diversity and a degree of balance in my DVD collection and I recommend that you all do the same.
Movie Review: a beautiful tribute to true love
Summary: 5 Stars
So long as you can get past this movie's many cliches and sometimes corny moments, you will find this to be a gem of a film unlike anything you've seen before. The idea of a young man originally going down a negative road meeting and growing to love a girl with commendable faith and self-assurance makes for a beautiful story when it is done in the right way. This film does just that. Oh, sure, it's got the cliche elements, but how many films don't? When you've got a movie like this, it's hard to keep it clean from that. Still, "A Walk to Remember" is a wonderful story that manages to stick directly to the point without adding unncessary elements that stall the flow of the movie. This keeps the film from getting too sappy and gives you something beautiful that you can actually remember for a long time and learn from. This is a movie with a cast that knew what they needed to do in order to make this kind of formula work, and that's why it's gone down so well with so many viewers.Shane West is just a very solid actor who, in his role as Landon Carter (the "bad boy who turns good"), gives a very real and convincing portrayal of this young man who makes the transition from a negative path to a positive one, not a way that makes you think "Yeah, right, like any guy would actually change like that in real life." It's very convincing and good acting by West. Mandy Moore's acting as the quiet and reserved Jamie Sullivan is nothing phenomenal, but it is certainly very well done and enjoyable to watch. She did a fine job of fitting the role and painting a clear picture of exactly what her character is going through. Moore has played exact opposite characters in her 2 movies: the snotty cheerleader in last year's "Princess Diaries" and the good, religious girl who can do no wrong in this movie. She proved herself as a worthy actress in both roles and convinces you with her acting with two different attitudes, but I see her more as somewhere in-between. Still, she does a very nice job as Jamie in this movie and gets all the emotion in there.
Overall, this is a very memorable movie with good acting, a good plot, and something wholesome with characters who can serve as role models in society. Curling up on a Saturday night with this film instead of just another one of those many sex, drugs, and drinking-themed movies out today just might prove to be very refreshing to you.