Beaufort, North Carolina. Landon Carter (Shane West) is a High School student without any meaning or purpose to his life, except partying and getting into trouble with his group of friends. This behavior, partially prompted by Landon’s anger at his father’s divorce from his mother Cynthia (Daryl Hannah), lands him into trouble with the school principal when he’s caught by the police while trying to run away from the scene of an accident. Forced to become a janitor and weekend counselor to disadvantaged kids, Landon becomes involved with Jamie Sullivan (Mandy Moore) while the two are part of a theater production. The daughter of the town’s local preacher (played by Peter Coyote) and a devout Christian, Jamie has been the butt of jokes and harassment from Landon and his friends for as long as they’ve all been going to school together. But, after the theater play rehearsals brings them closer together (and Landon learns that pretending Jamie doesn’t exist in front of his friends will anger the young woman to no end), a friendship blossoms between the two.
This relationship reaches an early climax during the performance of the theater play (Ch.11-12), when Landon sneaks a kiss into Jamie’s mouth while on-stage. When Landon’s friends pull a mean prank on Jamie involving a doctored Photoshop picture (Ch.15) the young man is forced to choose between the loose lifestyle he’s used to having, or to defend the honor of the young Christian woman that he’s taken with. He chooses the latter, and together they face the opposition of Reverend Sullivan to his daughter dating as well as their lack of skill at dancing (something Cynthia Carter is quick to help her son get over). Then, just as the young couple is beginning to get along, a tragic event threatens to separate them physically as well as emotionally. Now, with their time together rapidly ending, Landon and Jamie’s relationship evolves into a deeper and more intense level of commitment than when they were just dating.
"A Walk To Remember," based on a best-selling novel by Nicholas Sparks, pulls a "Love Story" plot twist two thirds into the story that pushes the movie deep into melodramatic territory. The filmmakers and young actors are obviously striving for a dead-serious tone that tries to keep the film anchored in the realm of drama, but the movie barely-stands above average teenage TV dramatic fare like "Felicity" or "Dawson’s Creek." Much has been made of the Christian faith that the Jamie Sullivan character has and the ‘PG’ rating that Warner Bros. sought from director Adam Shankman ("The Wedding Planner") to make the movie appeal to a wider audience. Watching it reveals that the weight of the narrative is carried by the conversion of the Landon Carter character from wannabe punk to decent human being, something that pretty boy Shane West (from TV’s now-canceled "Once & Again") struggles mighty hard to keep believable. Any scene requiring Shane to cry or show emotion flirts dangerously close with being laughable, but the supporting performances (particularly by Coyote and Hannah) around the Landon Carter character do a remarkable job of masking the decent-at-best acting chops of Mr. West.
Mandy Moore, on the other hand, is a revelation. She somehow transforms her sexy singer persona (which can be looked at in the music video included in this DVD) into an intelligent and attractive Christian woman that makes no apologies for being who she is. I totally bought her as Jamie Sullivan, and the movie survives most of its melodramatic scenes (which milk the "Love Story" clichés for everything they’re worth) because Moore is so believably and firmly anchored in reality as a no-nonsense teenager with a healthy amount of love for God (just like in real-life a lot of young women live a similar lifestyle). Without Mandy Moore’s performance "A Walk To Remember" wouldn’t be half the romantic teenage melodrama that it is, and she alone makes the flick worth renting. Then again, I’m not a teenager and young women probably feel toward Shane West the same way I feel about Mandy Moore!
The Disc:
The Widescreen Anamorphic (2:35:1) Video Transfer of "A Walk To Remember" is very good, registering only a handful of compression artifacts and some infrequent grain/dirt specs on the print. From the natural flesh tones of the actors to the "Dawson’s Creek"-worthy cinematography used for the North Carolina locations of the film (many of which were actually "Dawson’s Creek" locations!), the DVD transfer looks postcard-perfect pretty. The audio comes loud and clean via two rock-solid English & French (Quebec) Dolby 5.1 Soundtracks, with the French version actually one-upping the English track thanks to the use of EX technology. Dialogue and the romantically-inclined soundtrack get taken care of with ease, while environmental effects (like car engines and incidental background noise) quietly lay incidentally and without calling attention to themselves. There are also English, French & Spanish Subtitles for the hearing impaired.
In the absence of a production featurette or documentary, the DVD of "A Walk To Remember" has Two Feature-Length Commentary Tracks that will entertain and inform anyone interested in the movie. One features Mandy Moore (Jamie Sullivan) and Shane West (Landon Carter) along with director Adam Shankman, and the other teams-up Nicholas Sparks (writer of the novel from which the movie was made) and screenwriter Karen Janszen. The first is a loose and relaxed amalgamation of on-the-set stories and anecdotes, which unfortunately hint at a truckload of deleted scenes (of the ‘PG-13’ and ‘R’ rated variety) that are nowhere to be found in the DVD. Director Shankman gets the biggest laughs of the track by pointing continuity mistakes and wondering how his romantic movie got labeled a ‘Christian’ movie when he, a self-proclaimed ‘gay Jew’ (his words), made it without religious connotations in mind. The second commentary is a rare case of a book author and the screenwriter of his novel getting along while chatting about how the written word was adapted to the big screen. Janszen's lamentation about the portions of the screenplay that were re-written without her (like the theater play) are cake compared to the Sparks' recollection about her sister, which was the inspiration for the Jamie Sullivan character. They both make an interesting listen despite being opposite ends of the entertainment spectrum.
Rounding things up are a Mandy Moore Music Video, ‘Cry’, the film’s Theatrical Trailer and a Cast & Crew Filmographies section chronicling recent film/TV projects by Moore, West, Peter Coyote and Darryl Hannah.
bottom line:
A harmless but heavy-handed and soapy teenage romantic fable that lives and dies by the strength of Mandy Moore’s performance in the title role. The woman can definitely act wholesome and innocent when the camera’s on her, but Shane West’s transformation from wannabe High School rebel to kind-hearted loving boyfriend barely registers in the believability meter. The commentary tracks are fun, the picture sharp and the sound acceptable by ‘PG’ rated romantic drama standards. Strictly for fans of WB/PAX Network-type shows like "Seventh Heaven" and "Touched By An Angel."
By - J.M. Vargas
