Nicholas Sparks’ books and films are famous for being touching, tragic, romantic stories, (a.k.a. chick flick central). Sparks is the mastermind behind one of the most famous love story movies, The Notebook, starring Ryan Gosling and Rachel McAdams. Other famous movies based off his novels include The Last Song, Dear John, A Walk to Remember, and The Lucky One.

The “Best of Me” is one of nine movies that were originally books written by Nicholas Sparks. Michelle Monaghan and Liana Liberto split the part of playing older and younger Amanda Collier; and James Marsden and Luke Bracey play older and younger Dawson Cole.

The “Best of Me” is about two high school sweethearts, Amanda and Dawson, who were separated then reunited twenty years later. The death of an old friend sees them reconnecting in their old hometown. They rekindle their love, but they soon realize the reasons they were torn apart so long ago are still present. It’s the typical sappy storyline: boy comes from a rough, abusive, poor household and the girl comes from a prestigious, wealthy family. Her mother is gentle and the father is so wrapped in his own money he barely pays attention to his daughter. Somehow they stumbled into each other’s lives, and the families were not going to stand in the way of their young love.

I’ve seen this story so many times and it’s been played out too much. When I see love stories these days, I want to see something different not the usual plot. The movie is also seen as confusing because it tells the story in a series of flashbacks, present day, and futuristic situations, making it difficult to follow along. The scenes are dragged out and it seemed like there are many different endings.

Unfortunately, critics claim that this movie didn’t live up to expectations of Sparks’ romance movies. Although the movie collected over twenty-five million dollars in the box office, audiences seem to think of the film as a little on the cheesy and predictable side.

The movie was very predictable in its entirety, but I will give it credit for telling an emotional story, just in a very poorly constructed way. Moviegoers had high expectations for this film that unfortunately were not met in the production of the movie.