I knew I shouldn’t have watched this, not just because it is adapted from a Nicolas Sparks novel,* but also because my DVD copy advertised it was a “Tears of Joy” edition. But I like Michelle Monaghan, and I’m a sucker for the “first love” plot, so viewed it I did. And dammit if my thought “that plot twist didn’t set me up for Tears of Joy” wasn’t followed by actual Tears of Joy ten minutes later.**
Cost: free from library
Where watched: at home. Toes are now ice blue. And let me say, the previous color, a glittery black and mauve concoction called “Scandalous” took a very long time to remove. I have other polish that is also difficult to remove, but that polish doesn’t chip on day three of wear. Scandalous, living up to its name, will not be making an appearance on my toes ever again.
*If you made a game of drinking each time his stories reinforce traditional gender roles you would be dead before the climax.****
**It was still a massively annoying movie though–though not as terrible as the Notebook. It was filled with the gender role crap, plus Luke Bracey looked like he was five years out of college.*** Could they not find someone close to eighteen to play an eighteen-year-old? I could never really believe Liana Liberato was his first love.
***IMDB trivia reports Bracey was 25 and Liberato was 19 when filming. Interestingly Bracey’s bio on the site doesn’t include his year of birth. So perhaps he is older.
**** “Why do I feel dumber after you tell me about these movies?” Matt asked, after I dramatically recounted the plot. He was also highly offended at the title, once I told him where the Tears of Joy came from.
poster from: http://www.impawards.com/2014/best_of_me.html
I like Michelle Monaghan as well! Though I didn’t know she appeared in this movie until now.
There has been some hilarious Nicholas Parks commentary on Twitter. I follow enough accounts from POC or that promote diversity in children’s literature that I get to see a lot of interesting commentary about representation in media. You might enjoy trying to find what they were saying!
Oh, glittery nail polish can be such a pain to remove!
So I watched this movie a few months ago. I have no idea what possessed me. I don’t think I’ve seen any other Sparks movie (the only book I’ve read of his was his non-fiction book) but I know enough about him to know that his stuff is not to my taste. At any rate, I thought this movie was dumb as all get out. And I saw the plot twist coming a mile away.