Review: ‘The Best of Me’ From The Editor

All you need to know about “The Best of Me” is summed up in the first moments of the movie when the words “a Nicholas Sparks production” appear on screen. The novelist-turned-producer is the reigning king of thwarted romance and tearful endings, as you can see in “The Notebook,” “A Walk to Remember,” “Dear John” and many others. He has resurrected the formula again with the usual trappings: a kissing scene in the pouring rain, a disapproving father, obstacles that lead to the wrong pairing.

In this case, the story follows high school sweethearts who lose touch. Amanda (Michelle Monaghan) and Dawson (James Marsden) are reunited after a mutual friend dies, and as soon as Amanda glimpses Dawson for the first time in 21 years, two things are clear: She’s very angry with him, and they’re totally going to get together.

After all, she’s in a loveless marriage to a heavy drinker who has friends named Chazz and Brooksy and talks about plans to visit his alma mater for a “Sigma Nu thing.” Compare that with Dawson, who works on an oil rig where he spends his spare time reading Stephen Hawking and rescuing people from fires.

There’s nothing wrong with Bracey as an actor, but this has to be one of the worst pieces of casting I’ve ever seen. He’s supposed to be the high school version of Dawson, but have you ever met a high school student with crow’s feet?

In real life, Bracey couldn’t pass for an undercover cop in high school, never mind the fact there’s virtually no resemblance between him and Marsden. Bracey’s casting is such a distraction, it’s a cinematic disaster. Liberato is much more convincing as a young Monaghan.

As for the plot: Dawson’s crazy, drug-running father and brothers, his relationship with Tuck, and his star-crossed relationship with Amanda past and present — it hardly matters. Other than the actors’ efforts to try to overcome this flaw-laden film, “The Best of Me”’s only other redeeming quality is that it finally ends.