The Best of Me

This review may contain spoilers!

The romance genre isn't really my favourite of film genres, but even I have to admit that a Nicholas Spark adaptation is going to be good. I would give The Best of Me a 6.5/10.

What this film excelled in was setting up a rather sad and emotional journey of romance; a really well done plot with a great sense of pacing.

Michelle Monaghan, who played Amanda, did a great job emphasising the pain she felt as a younger woman; she carried over a lot of the psychology from her earlier self. Luke Bracey, who played Younger Dawson, was really the starring male lead over Marsden in this film; he completely owned his role of a young man escaping a violent household. Liana Liberato, who played Younger Amanda, did a wonderful job developing a woman who falls in love with a man who's life is inevitably destroyed. Sean Bridgers, who played Tommy Cole, was a thoroughly despicable villain; he really owned his role which made it all the more convincing.

Yet it was Gerald McRaney, who played Tuck, that really stood out for me in this film. Tuck was immediately the heart of the film upon his introduction and from there on out continued to stand out in the film. His father figure role and his inspiring moments of dialogue is what made this film truly memorable for me.

The film failed itself with it's rather standard looking cinematography and editing, it was very clear that this film didn't stretch to have a unique look. More than that the music in this film was quite bland as well and left much to be desired. The plot also had a lot of tragic moments and miraculous turning points that started seeming unbelievable after a while.

James Marsden, who played Dawson, was quite boring to watch; his performance was very monotone and it seemed he had been hired more for his looks than his talent. Sebastian Arcelus, who played Frank, really did not go to any great lengths to stand out in the film; rather he seemed kind of indifferent to everything around him.