Nicholas Spark’s classic plot is back at it once again. How many times do we have to watch one of the new films based on his book to realize that it will be exactly the same as the last one aside from different names and setting.

Featuring James Marsden and Michelle Monaghan, the movie highlights a love story of two high school lovers separated after a gun related accident throwing Dawson (male lead) in jail, and leaving Amanda (female lead) stranded and heartbroken.

After twenty-one years, they reconnect and pick up the love they have for each other once more, and without revealing the ending, I will say that it ends up like most Nicholas Sparks movies do. Surprise, I pretty much gave away the ending by telling you that.

I wasn’t incredibly eager to go see a movie which is generally appealing to women with a very sensitive emotional spectrum, and it exactly what I expected it would be.

The movie is in fact, exactly what you expected from the trailer, and there is little variation, if any, from what you see in it.

To start, I found that Dawson’s high school character (Luke Bracey) looked far too old for the role he was attempting to fit. The second problem was that his personality, which was an attempt to convey wounds and a struggling soul, ended up being dull and unappealing.

On the contrary, I had no problem with the sweet and affectionate character of Amanda, who was very much parallel in her high school and adult years, making the duo of Michelle Monaghan and Liana Liberato an excellent pair.

The typical kissing scene in the pouring rain, a commonality in every Nicholas Sparks film, makes an appearance. There is once again, a disapproving father, some reason they cannot be together, some sort of distant love which the whole theater knew would not work.

The plot, therefore, was disappointing, as was the ending, which was abrupt and a mediocre cliffhanger. In addition to a disappointing plot, it was difficult to tell the timeframe in which the story occurred, as it jumped over months at a time without any notice.

All in all, a very lackluster movie which I would not recommend you spend ten dollars to go see. Save your money, see a different movie, or go out to dinner.