The Best of Me - Il meglio di me

The stage curtains open ...

Continuing my journey of films from the past that I've never seen before, I found this one - "The Best of Me". The description simply read that two former high school sweetheaerts reconnect years later in their hometown. Seeing that it starred Michelle Monaghan and James Marsden, I was all-in. Sounded like a nice, quiet and warm film to get behind and enjoy for a couple of hours. Well, that was about half right.

When both Dawson Cole and Amanda Reynolds are informed of a close friend's death, they make their way back to where they grew up to attend the reading of his last will. Neither one expected to see the other some 20 years later, and past flames and old wounds are re-opened as they go through the emotional experience of reliving their passionate past and dealing with the reality of their modern day lives. They find out that simmering beneath the surface are a lot of unresolved feelings leading to a decidedly final conclusion.

I was really enjoying this movie. I thought the characters and plot were very strong with solid acting and a fitting soundtrack. We are given snippits of their past with flashback scenes that really added to the story. And then heading into the third act, this film seriously derails into such ridiculous events that just about ruined the whole thing for me. And the final resolution is meant to make you feel wonder and awe and all I could think was, "this is B. S."

I hated the ending. This is one of those rare movies where I loved it and I hated it. So, I have to rate it right down the middle. If you are into an over-the-top, melodramatic twist ending, then you might like this one. Overall, it was entertaining, well paced, and well acted. I can't recommend it though. I don't know ... maybe a 2nd viewing might change my mind, but I doubt it.

Good romantic films are almost as rare as good comedies. I really did not ask for anything special, as I like "chick flicks" and Hollywood has such a love affair with action movies, Hollywood has almost stopped making them. Nonetheless, I really disliked this one; because, even with the clichés, this movie had so much promise. The movie opens with a fine action sequence; and James Marsden is a really watchable actor. However, as soon as the parallel love stories begin, the movie falls apart. First of all "young Amanda" (Liana Liberato) not only does not look much like "older Amanda" (Michelle Monaghan), their body languages and acting styles are completely different. There is even a bigger disparity with "young Dawson" (Luke Bracey) and "older Dawson" (James Marsden). Thanks to terrific performances by Liana Liberato and Gerald McRaney, the flashback sequences are much more entertaining than the present sequences, even though Michael Hoffman's direction is much better in the present sequences. Hoffman shoots WAY too many of the flashback sequences as medium shots, when closeups would have been far better. Even the ending seems tacked on and trite.

Except for Liana Liberato and Gerald McRaney, "The Best of Me" is anything but. I give "The Best of Me" a "5".

I really enjoyed this movie, but I must give a disclaimer... I never read the book, so I can't base my rating on how accurately the movie follows the book. I found that this movie had a lot of twists in it and wasn't as predictable as most other romance movies. (Also, it didn't hurt that James Marsden is great to look at.) I thought the actress who played young Amanda was really good, and I loved seeing the story as the two were growing up & also in modern times. I'm not sure why this movie has gotten so much hate... I thoroughly enjoyed the movie, and would even pay to see it again if I get the chance.

I was not a fan of The Notebook, and would much rather watch this movie instead of The Notebook. Sure, the movies probably don't follow Nicholas Sparks' books super detailed, but they're good to watch if you're in the mood for a heartfelt love story.

The story line is worthless and you walk away hating the movie, because of the story line. Everything that can happen bad, happens to these two and in the end they are destroyed again......not one positive happens to them in this story. Books and movies are supposed to be entertainment. Yes you can have some bad in movies to, but the whole thing? It's like, you meet your love of your life and she dies, then she's reincarnated and you find each other again and you die and then the kids die and then the cheating husband walks away rich......it's like why would anyone want to watch this. This is not entertainment, this is solely an attempt to make a tear jerker on top of a tear jerker and all they succeed at is making you mad at how disturbingly sadistic the story line is destroying their lives over and over again.

I was looking for a nice romantic flick to bring my girlfriend to so it could set the mood for the evening. Well, that plan failed and I ended up bringing my ex to the movies to see it instead. It really touched me in a deep way that no other love story has in the past. Sounds kinda corny, but for me, it touched on some areas. Well, needless to say, we held hands all during the movie and more later.

Okay, so I read up on the reviews before coming to see this movie and they all made it sound like a boring box office flop, BUT reviews can be very deceiving because this was a diamond that was tarnished by viewers who had NO clue what a romantic flick this really is about! So my advice to you is to go and see it with an open mind and heart and let the movie just unveil itself to your heart and mind and see what happens... best wishes!