A Walk to Remember

Starring: Shane West, Mandy Moore, Daryl Hannah, Peter Coyote
Directed by: Adam Shankman
Rating: PG
Genre: Drama, Romance
2002

Times Seen:
Tim: 1

Summary: Rough, rebellious high schooler Landon (Shane West) gets caught drinking and misbehaving, and as a result must tutor kids on Saturday, help the janitor after school, and partake in the school play, all as punishment. The change in lifestyle makes him spend a great deal of time with goody-goody preacher's daughter, Jamie (Mandy Moore), who begins to show him things he never knew about himself. As their relationship grows, Landon seems to think it might be forever, except for a secret Jamie has kept from him.

Review:

Tim: I finally watched this movie because I was so sick of people asking me if I had seen it yet, and shaking their head when I told them I had not. I'll admit going into this film, I wasn't too excited. I figured it was a sappy love story meant for 14-16 year olds, and hell- it featured Mandy Moore, a copycat of Britney Spears. Regardless, I did my best to give this film a chance.

I have to say I was somewhat wrong in my assumptions about this film. Yes, it was a sappy girl movie meant for the prepubescent audiences. Oftentimes i found myself having difficulty buying into the whole love story, but I suppose thats just a jaded sense of love. I assume had I been 15-16 and on the verge of first time love, I'd have absolutely loved the storyline.

I must mention that Mandy Moore does a tremendous job in the film. She's nearly unrecognizeable with her brown hair, and I had to ask myself several times if it was really her. In addition to her good performance, Shane West is absolutely brilliant in the film. I don't believe I've seen him in anything else, but I was very much impressed with the kid, and look forward to seeing him in future projects.

Despite my best efforts, I found myself sucked into the storyline, and I will admit I had to fight back tears on several occasions (but its been a rough week, so you never really know). The film sets out to be a tear-jerker by the end, and does so very impressively. That being said, it is extraordinarily predictable, and features very little any of us have not seen before.

While A Walk to Remember isn't completely forgettable, it didn't really affect me that much, either. If you are between the ages of 13-18, you will probably love the movie, especially if you happen to be female. I won't criticize the film any more, because I'm sure my female readers will have taken offense to me bashing Moore's film at this point. I'll admit A Walk to Remember is much better than I anticipated.

Rating 1-10
Tim's Rating: 7



If You Enjoyed This Movie, We Recommend: Crossroads, Cruel Intentions, She's All That, Get Over It