3rd: Dear John
We`ve all heard stories about brave soldiers on the front carrying in their pockets pictures and love letters received from their loved ones. This movie tells the heartbreaking story of a young couple who fail to find happiness together. But despite the bittersweet loss of their romance, the story if softened by the characters into feeling like a triumph of love. The story might not sound unique, just another soldier exchanging love letters with his sweet heart from home, but it is executed in such way, that it makes you feel as though you’re experiencing it for the first time.
Heartbreaking story
John Tyree, enrolled into the Special Forces, arrives home on a two weeks` leave, during which he meets and falls in love with Savannah. We saw it coming, but that doesn`t mean love has any less power over us. It comes as unexpectedly in reality as it does in this movie, as Savannah said at some point: “Two weeks together, that’s all it took, two weeks for me to fall in love with you.”
Their relationship continues over the next couple of years but the couple is separated by John`s continuous deployments. Their only contact is the constant letters they send each other and the brief time they spend together when John is on leave. It might sound like a cliché, but one could argue that her love letters are what kept John going through the terrible experience that is war.
Secondary story
Dear John takes us through different stages of emotion, from smiles to tears and intense moments. The acting is quite good, Channing Tatum having successfully played a young soldier with many repressed feelings.
The other significant secondary story, that of John`s lonely father, touches a place deep in our hearts as well. John`s voice at the beginning of the film is addressed to his father, confessing that the first thing to cross his mind after he was shot was coins, and the last thing to cross his mind before he lost consciousness was his dad, ultimately the most precious person in his life.
This story vibrates of nostalgia, as the connection between the two is kept through letters. It is proof that romance can never get old even in more modern days, and that`s what makes this movie a definite must see.
2nd: The Vow
Even if this movie might not have the same emotional impact as The Notebook, it still conveys the right message, and that is: love is worth fighting for and it can overcome any obstacle. This story has a different approach on love than the classic romantic plots, as the characters are way past the point of meeting, falling in love and getting married. The main characters of this movie have already been married for four years when their lives reach a turning point.
Forgotten memories
Paige and her husband Leo come out of a movie theater when, on their way home, at a stop sign, a truck rams their car from behind and Paige crashes through the windshield. Both of them are rushed to the emergency room. After she wakes up at the hospital, Paige finds herself suffering of amnesia. She had forgotten everything about how Leo courted and proposed to her.
Therefore, he has to earn her back and his quest is definitely not a walk in the park considering Paige also tries to understand why she quit her old life style and chose Leo instead.
So why is this a good choice for a movie night?
“The Vow” is definitely a sweet date movie for Valentine’s Day. It has the benefit of being based on a true story so it is easy for women to identify with Paige who belongs with the handsome Leo.
Despite the hardships, he loves her anyway and is willing to go the distance in order to win her back. The more we follow Paige, the more we realize that appearances can be deceiving, as proved by her dilemma when she has to find out what made her fall in love with Leo in the first place, especially since he didn`t seem the kind of man she would choose.
1st: The Notebook
Have you ever asked yourself where the famous “kissing in the rain” comes from? The Notebook tells a tender story about the enduring power of love, written in such a way that will stay with you forever.
The tender love story
The story sets off in a nursing home, where an elderly man begins to read to a patient, out of a faded, worn-out notebook. He takes us back in time, to a young couple who share an idyllic summer love: a local country boy, named Noah, and seventeen-year-old heiress, Allie.
Taking his social status into consideration, the young girl`s parents forbid her from having any connections with Noah and decide to return to their hometown. Allie sends a message to Noah, confessing her feelings, but by the time he arrives at her house, the family will have left already.
Noah and Allie have no choice but to move on with their lives, but years later, when Allie is proposed to by another man, she sees Noah`s face instead of her fiancé’s. After reading about Noah in a newspaper article, she returns to Seabrook to find Noah.
Why is this movie perfect for Valentine`s?
Director Nick Cassavetes is no stranger in properly tugging heart strings. The Notebook is considered to be one of the most romantic film of this century, probably more popular than the Titan, due to its “happy ending”.
It tells the complete story of a love that survived the passage of time and lasted for longer than six decades, all presented by an excellent cast who infused their characters with such life force that you cannot hide, or deny, the tears that hang around the corner of your eyes. It isn’t just another romance film for women, it`s a movie for anyone who wants to get lost in a beautiful story, for anyone who believes romance and old-fashioned love are still alive to this day.
There is no way, more perfect than this movie, to show to your significant other that the love you feel for them is strong and will conquer the passing of time – a fact that each and every one of us likes to be reminded from time to time.