film review

The best of me is an American romantic drama directed by Michael Hoffman based on Nicholas Sparks novev of the same name. The basic story line behind it is high school lovers who lose touch for an unknown reason to be explored further on in the story.

There is lots of shots of the scenery out in the Woodlands where the main character Dawson lives which really sets the scene and creates an eerie atmosphere that fits well with the shabby run down house. There is a lot of low lighting with shadows and the use of light and shade to fully portray how horrible and gloomy the area is.  This is a complete contrast to where the other main actress Amanda lives in the busy city surrounded by attached pieces of property and busy streets. There is a lot of colour and background shots of parks with flowers to show how vibrant and full of life the area is.

Throughout the film there is different sound and music used appropriately to fit each individual scene. For example there is an extremely intense scene where the main characters best friend is shot, dramatic music is used  here appropriately to build up tension of the per battle to the climax where he is shot. The music then is instantly changed to fit a more emotional, mournful mood and the rest of the scene is carried out in slow motion to show the intricate movement of Dawson and how he is trying desperately to save his best friend. 

There are several sensitive topics/ themes explored through the film such as: abusive family life, teenage pregnancy, the loss of loved ones, alcoholism and the difficulties of married life. The director of the film decides to use 2 sets of actors and actresses due to the fact there are flash backs through the film to their lives as teenagers to modern day. This is done very cleverly in my opinion as you get to see how far the couple have came in their lives and how they have ended up where they are now. The purpose of this is to answer any questions the audience may have and to support the plot of star crossed lovers. I believe the message Hoffman is trying to get across is that if love is true and pure it should be able to with stand any length of time and this messaged is used through to support the love of the two characters after being apart for 21 years and have been brought back together to settle their unfinished business.

A film which is similar to this is The Notebook. It’s an American romantic drama film directed by Nick Cassavetes and based again around Nicholas Sparks’s novel the same name. The films are two successful pieces to compare and contrast as they have both been inspired by the same novel so have some similar elements but both have completely different stories. The notebook also has two sets of actors and actresses as the film again used the technique of flash backs to show the story from their past up until modern day. However this is done in a completely different way as the audience are not made aware that these are the actors former selves but are instead tricked in to a false sense of security and are made to believe it is simply a story being read to a woman in a care home. From watching both films you can see elements that are similar and they have took inspiration from Sparks’s novel and have adapted it to fit the different style of movie.

I believe the acting performances of James Marsden and Michelle monoghan where extremely believable and they were both very committed to making the story line as believable as possible therefore their love for one another could be seen and felt by the audience. They had extremely good chemistry and had a very strong stage presence and likability factor. James Marsden almost received the  roll of the victim as he was the one left alone when Michelle went off and married someone else therefore he automatically received the sympathy vote and pulled on the heart strings of young teenagers. However we are quick to learn that it was a joint effort as to why the relationship failed as he cut all contact with her whist he endured his prison sentence. Despite this i believe the performance of Luke Bracey and Liana Liberato (the younger set of actors) didn't share the same intimacy the other pair did and clearly lacked experience in the department due to the fact of being so young. They didn't share as many heart felt moments as the older couple experienced and didn't have as good character relationship which lead to the older pair being Favorited and focused on.

In my opinion I think the heart felt message that is subtly put across through the story appeals the audience. It’s has a selection of relatable topics for teenage girls as almost everyone will have had that high school crush that they will never forget and this story follows up their high school love affair and shows love never fades no matter how distant you become from a person it will always be there if it is pure. It’s not your typical story where the princess has a difficult start and ends with her fairy tale, instead it follows a completely different pattern which has its ups and down through the film but ultimately ends in Dawson giving his life to save Amanda’s son. The fact that it doesn’t follow your generic story line makes it more appealing because in real life you don’t always get your fairy tale ending despite it looking so promising therefore makes the film more believable and as realistic as it can be.