The Best of Me (2014)
Certified: 12A
Duration: 114 minutes
Directed by: Michael Hoffman
Starring: James Marsden, Michelle Monaghan, Liana Liberato, Sebastian Arcelus, Gerald McRaney, Jon Tenney, Caroline Goodall, Ian Nelson, Schuyler Fisk, Rob Mello, Hunter Burke
KRS Releasing Ltd
Amanda Collier (Michelle Monaghan) is unhappily married to Frank (Sebastian Arcelus) and is a mother. Dawson Cole (James Marsden) is single and works on an oil rig. The two, who had been college sweethearts, meet on the death of a common friend, Tuck (Gerald McRaney).
The film takes us back to 1992 where Dawson (Luke Bracey) and Amanda (Liana Liberato), who could not be more different, meet. She comes from a rich family while he has a country-hick kind of family and his father, Tommy (Sean Bridges), does not treat him kindly.
Dawson’s cousin Bobby (Bobby Rasmussen) tells him that Amanda would be ideal for him; however it’s Amanda that approaches him.
At one point things get so bad at home that Dawson runs away and stays in a garage to avoid the rain. In the morning, Tuck wakes him up with a gun in his face. He recognises him as Tommy’s son and also sees the signs of abuse on Dawson. From that time onwards, he becomes Dawson’s friend and father figure. Meanwhile, romance between Dawson and Amanda starts to flourish both in the past and present, and yet Dawson’s roots seem to be bringing him down and throwing obstacles at him.
The Best of Me marks the ninth Nicholas Sparks book to make it to the silver screen, with the best of the lot still being 2004’s The Notebook. Coming up after The Best of Me are adaptations of The Choice and The Longest Ride.
The Best of Me is a romantic drama that is aimed at Sparks fans. This is the kind of film where cinemas are guaranteed to sell tissues rather than popcorn as the story is a heady mixture of drama, loss and love.
The film benefits from the chemistry between the two sets of leads: the ones of the past and the ones in the present. The pairing of Monaghan and Marsden is quite successful, well rounded and accomplished.
The chemistry between them is tangible and they give the feel of actually having suffered for quite some time as they flow along the melodramatic plot lines and the score that is designed to trigger off flowing tears.