Review of The Best of Me (2014) by Skyview B — 10 Sep 2015

Introduction-.

This movie was based on the book by Nicholas Sparks. If you are familiar with Nicholas Sparks and his style of writing, then you will understand when I say that this was definitely a very powerful movie that had me in various stages of happiness, distress, and mild anger throughout the whole thing. It follows Dawson Cole and Amanda Collier, both in their mid-30's to early 40's.

Plot Summary-.

In "The Best of Me," the movie starts with both Amanda and Dawson getting the same phone call. The call tells them that their beloved friend Tuck had died. They immediately travel to where he lived to meet with the lawyer who had contacted them. When Amanda and Dawson see each other for the first time in the movie, it is nothing short of awkward. From that point, the movie shows how they fell in love, through flashbacks. You see why their initial meeting was so uncomfortable, and then how they deal with everything. Dawson's dad also plays a big part in the movie, due to how he was abusive and violent, both to his own son and everyone that had anything to do with him. Near the end, it is finally revealed what made Dawson and Amanda fall apart.

Themes-.

The theme of "The Best of Me" is to sit back and let destiny handle everything. In the movie, you will see how everything happens for a reason to the characters. Dawson survives a fatal accident just in time to find out that Tuck died and he has to go to where he died and see Amanda again. Dawson forgets Amanda's corsage before prom and has to go back to the house where he finds Tuck. If he hadn't forgotten the corsage, Tuck might have died. Every single major event happened because of something else. If anything had been changed at all, then the whole movie might have ended differently. Destiny brought Amanda and Dawson together.

Technical Elements-.

More than half of "The Best of Me," is made up of flashbacks. That really adds something to the movie, feeling like you know the backstory of every character, and letting you think about decisions that were made and if you would do the same or something different. Another element of the movie that I thought was cool was the lighting. If the scene was happy, the light was happy cheerful and bright. If it was a sad scene, however, the lighting was either dark and depressing, or fake and fluorescent looking. I really loved the costumes, how they made younger Amanda's style the same as older Amanda's style. The costumes were very bright and happy and realistic. The camera shots were unique and varied. I really liked how shallow depth of field was utilized often. I thought the camera work on this movie was really cool. I enjoyed it, at least.

Conclusion-.

If you like good movies, then I suggest that you watch this movie. It's romantic and sweet, but also dramatic, and it has a real problem in it. I thought that this movie was a very good one with a good plot and some very sweet moments along with intense ones. It made me cry, and that's the mark of a good movie. If the characters are made so real and relatable that I genuinely care what happens to them, then that is a good director. This movie is a good one for any time. I personally watched it by myself, but it can be watched with a group of people or on a date or whenever you feel like it. I highly recommend this movie to anyone looking for a powerful movie with an excellent plot and realistic characters.

-ER (8th Grade Student).