• GENRE: Comedy / Romance
• ACTORS: Ricky Gervais, Tea Leoni, Greg Kinnear, Kristen Wiig, Alan Ruck, Billy Campbell, Danai Jekesai Gurira, Aasif Mandvi, Uzimann, Dennis Albanese, Megan Byrne
• RATING: PG-13
• PARENTAL NOTE: Not for children. Some bad language and questionable situations. The portrayal of death is inconsistent with a Christian viewpoint.
• INTENDED AUDIENCE: I believe the film makers and promoters view this film as being appropriate for children over the age of 13. I do not, because of the misleading portrayal of death. Adults, who recognize this movie as fiction, will enjoy the movie if they are not easily offended by the other questionable situations and language.
• GENERAL PLOT: (No spoilers) A man’s near death experience (actually he “dies” for short period of time) enables him to see the disembodied spirits who walk the streets of New York.





• REVIEW: As noted above, this film has some problems from a Christian point of view. That is, occasional foul language and inappropriate themes. Also, the portrayal of death in a manner completely inconsistent with truth, as known by Christians. But this movie is, after all, fiction. It presents a world, which we know to be false, but which is entertaining none the less. The leading character, Ricky Gervais, was the “boss” on the original BBC version of the popular, but vulgar, TV program, The Office. His character–essentially the same as his role in The Office, but slightly quirkier–is a hoot.
• RECOMMENDATION: The story is an entertaining fresh take on a common theme. The acting is first rate. Subject to the above cautions, this movie is well worth watching, in my view.
• RATING (out of 5 stars): ★★★★★

• GENRE: Sappy Romance
• ACTORS: Channing Tatum, Amanda Seyfried, Richard Jenkins, Henry Thomas, D.J. Cotrona, Cullen Moss, Scott Porter, Gavin McCulley, Jose Lucena Jr., Leslea Fisher
• RATING: PG-13



• PARENTAL NOTE: A PG-13 implies to many parents that this film is suitable for teenagers. In this case, I don’t agree. As detailed below, this movie pushes a fairly trashy theme, even for those who are not put off by the sappy story line. Limited cursing and brief nudity.
• INTENDED AUDIENCE: If you like the Twilight movies, or most any movie with the word, “Princess” in it, then Dear John is aimed toward you. This movie is intended for teenage girls, who apparently swoon en masse at the sight of Channing Tatum’s bare chest. His bare chest is on display for quite a bit of the film. I don’t agree that the movie is appropriate for even this group.
• GENERAL PLOT: (No spoilers, although the title to this movie is something of a spoiler) Boy meets girl at the beach. They fall in hopelessly in love during their two weeks together. Boy goes off to war. They exchange letters.




• REVIEW: First of all, I need to explain why I am reviewing a sappy romance movie. Dear John is really not my cup of tea. It was recommended by one of the original founders of the Christian Men’s Breakfast group. Which proves again, that one ought not believe EVERYTHING that one hears. OK, about the sappy premise, as expressed in the GENERAL PLOT section of this review… The story is trite and worthless, to be sure. But I admit that lots of people enjoy mindless fluff in a movie. Frankly, I personally object to the fact that a movie supposedly about a member of the Army’s “Special” Forces, only portrays a couple of combat related kills. Also, there are no zombies in this movie, nor any psychopathic killers. Admittedly these shortcomings are also a matter of personal taste. My real objection is the way in which the relationship between the main characters veers in an “inappropriate” direction. A movie which portrays sin as wholesome and normal, does more harm than a movie which portrays immoral behavior without pretending that sin is anything but sin. This is especially true, when the target audience is approximately teenagers.[1. If you have read my other Christian Movie Reviews, you know that I have highly recommended other movies which have far more inappropriate situations than in Dear John. Is this a double standard? Well, it is a different standard for sure. Movies directed to adults (e.g. horror, zombie) should be judged differently than movies which target children and/or teenagers. I’m working on a separate article on this topic. I’ll link this review to the article, when it is posted.] Although I hesitate to nit-pick the small points of a movie, I’m uneasy about the killing off of one of the character’s spouses to make room for “true love.”
• RECOMMENDATION: This film does look like it was produced by professional film makers (add one star), and it arguably has a plot, such as it is (add one star). However, for all the reasons set out in this review, I have to subtract so many stars that this movie should really have a negative rating. As it is, zero (0) stars is the lowest I can rate this movie, which is actually giving Dear John undeserved credit. This film is worthless, and trash. Don’t waste your time.
• RATING (out of 5 stars): ★★★★★ zero stars!

FOOTNOTES:

• GENRE: Thriller / Action
• ACTORS: Christian Slater, Patricia Arquette, Brad Pitt, James Gandolfini, Christopher Walken, Gary Oldman, Val Kilmer, Dennis Hopper, Saul Rubinek, Bronson Pinchot, Michael Rapaport, Tom Sizemore. Also a brief appearance by the top grossing actor of all time, Samuel L. Jackson.
• RATING: R [1.  The “Director’s Cut” which I rented from Netflix was UNRATED.]
• PARENTAL NOTE: Not intended for children or teenagers. Bad language and questionable situations. Violence. Sex. Gangsters. Prostitution. Drug usage and sale. Brief nudity. If you can think of any other bad element found in movies, it’s probably in TRUE ROMANCE too, and I just forgot to mention it. The overriding message in this film is: Crime Pays!
• INTENDED AUDIENCE: This movie is intended for fans of the genre, and will almost certainly not be appreciated by others. I’m sure the film makers think this movie is appropriate for adults. I’m not sure that it is.
• GENERAL PLOT: (No spoilers) The two leading characters (played by Christian Slater and Patricia Arquette) meet in a theater, sleep together that night and get married the next day. They end up with a suitcase full of drugs and are on the run, a half step ahead of the gangsters whose drugs they stole, and the cops.
• REVIEW: This film has a lot to offer for fans of the genre. Lots of action. Shooting, fights, reckless car driving, etc. The acting is superb. My review standards are much more foregiving than most Christian film critics. I can look past the cursing (almost non-stop in this movie). I can look past the gratuitous violence, which is, again, almost non-stop. I can see past the initial illicit relationship. Whether their marriage the first day after meeting “cures” the immoral relationship, or just compounds it, is debatable. This film has some really evil characters, balanced by some really likable characters. There are even some characters we can both love and hate. The problem presented with this film is that even the really “nice” people are drug dealers. And without giving any spoilers, it’s fair to say that their life of crime definately DID PAY! This is just the sort of film that respectible Christians say Hollywood should not make. For good reason–it’s trash. Yet, even as trash, it is[3. perhaps unfortunately] completely entertaining.
• RECOMMENDATION: This is an “Action” movie. Many people will be highly offended by every movie in this genre because of the violence, bad language and other questionable elements, as mentioned above. Except for the extreme bad moral message that crime does pay, I could easily rate this movie with 4 or 5 stars. As it is, I’m hard pressed to recommend it for your casual viewing at all.
• RATING (out of 5 stars): ★★★★★