Wow. Things have escalated quickly. (A Walk to Remember)

6/4/2014 A WALK TO REMEMBER

Gosh darn that Nicholas Sparks...sure knows how to tug at the ol' heart strings. However, let the record show that I DID NOT CRY...depending on your definition of "cry".

The movie starts, about 10 seconds in, I'm left wondering whether I'm watching the right movie because the beginning, quite frankly, didn't exactly seem like the traditional Sparks romance. But hey, who doesn't love the classic "bad boy falls for good girl" story line? Before I go any further, I just have to note that I was NOT expecting a voice like that to come out of Mandy Moore. I was fairly convinced that it wasn't actually her singing, but upon further investigation, I discovered that it was indeed.

I thought it was really sweet when Landon defended Jamie after the whole “flier” incident. It definitely showed maturity on his part, and I was quite pleased that a fight scene didn't break out then and there. However, I was fairly taken aback when the Landon character suddenly told Jamie that he loved her...kind of a "wow. things have escalated quickly" reaction. I then realized that the movie was barely 100 minutes, and that they had to squeeze the "I love you's" in somewhere. By this point in the movie, I was still under the impression that she needed to develop a personality, which she later did much to my delight.

As in all cases, the movie would have been infinity to the tenth power better if SHE HAD NOT DIED. What is this fad with killing off main characters? Heck, it would have been a better ending if the comet had crashed into the earth and killed all forms of life. At least they could be together... I suppose you could argue that Landon "grew" by the death of Jamie, and while he might have, it didn't make for a very pleasing ending. So there...that's my take.