Dear John...

Dear John is a 2010 American romantic drama/war film starring Channing Tatum and Amanda Seyfried. It was released theatrically in North America on February 5, 2010. Directed by Lasse Hallström, the film is an adaptation of Nicholas Sparks's novel of the same name. It shows the life of a soldier (Channing Tatum) after he falls in love with a young woman (Amanda Seyfried). They decide to exchange letters to each other after he is deployed to the war.

Plot

John Tyree (Channing Tatum) a young soldier from the Army Special Forces, is lying on the ground in his combat gear with multiple gunshot wounds, thinking about Frankey Bignall. Coins begin to fall over him as he recalls a childhood trip to the U.S. Coin mint. He goes on to compare himself to a coin in the United States Military and states that the last thing he thought about before he blacked out, was "You".

In 2000, John is on leave when he meets Savannah Lynn Curtis (Amanda Seyfried), a college student on spring break. In a matter of days, Savannah and John fall in love. John meets Savannah's family as well as her neighbor, Tim Wheddon (Henry Thomas) and Tim's autistic son, Alan (Luke Benward), who looks up to Savannah. Savannah meets and befriends John's father, a reclusive man who is only interested in his coin collection. John tells Savannah that his father has always been obsessed with coins and has not been much of a father to John, whose mother is not in the picture. Savannah mentions to John, that his father, like Alan, may have autism. This upsets John, who believes Savannah is calling his father retarded. He is so caught up in his anger that he gets into a fight with Savannah's rich neighbor, Randy (Scott Porter), accidentally punching Tim in the process. John apologizes to Tim the next day and leaves Savannah a note, seeking her forgiveness before his leave comes to an end. Savannah gets the note, and they spend one last day together. John returns to the army and he and Savannah begin a long distance relationship through handwritten letters. John believes that year will be his final year of enlistment, but, following the September 11 attacks, is torn between returning home and his sense of duty. He is given a weekend off, which he spends with Savannah and her family as well as with his father. He asks Savannah for her opinion on whether or not he should re-enlist, and she tells him to do what he feels is right. Like the rest of the soldiers in his unit, John chooses to re-enlist.

Over the next two years, John faces increasingly dangerous missions and begins to live almost entirely for Savannah's letters. John and Savannah find themselves drifting apart. Finally, Savannah, sad but resigned, sends John a Dear John letter, informing him that she has become engaged to someone else. John is deeply depressed and frustrated by the news, and believes she is engaged to Randy. On a mission, he enters a dangerous area and is shot several times by an enemy. His captain suggests that John go home and spend time with his father, but John, still upset about Savannah, he chooses to re-enlist again. He decides that he will make a career out of the Army and stay enlisted for as long as possible. For the next four years John takes part in many missions with his new unit spanning from the early years of the invasion of Iraq to the current resurgent conflicts in Afghanistan. While stationed in Qatar, John is informed after another mission that he is being sent home, because his father suffered a sever stroke and was not found until days after the stroke, John feels guilt that maybe if he was there the outcome for his father would be better.The Doctor assures him that his presence and quicker medical attention would do little to help his father due to the severity of the stroke. John spends the last few days of his father's life by his side, and writes him a letter. His father has difficulty opening it, so John reads it to him. It is then that the viewers find out that John's speech at the beginning of the film addressed his father, not Savannah. He and his father connect in a tearful moment, and his father dies. John decides to go see Savannah, and discovers she married Tim, not her rich friend. Savannah tells him Tim has cancer, and is not allowed to leave the hospital. She says that the only way he can come home is by having an experimental drug that they cannot afford. John visits Tim in the hospital, where Tim apologizes to John, confesses he has always loved Savannah & he is at peace for his Son will have a mother and will be cared for. Tim also confesses that Savannah still loves John, he wishes she loved him the same way but accepts what can never be. Late that evening after reconnecting with Savannah John finally says goodbye to her, forcing Savannah to terms with the fact she has lost John, bringing her to tears. John then sells his father's coin collection, although keeping the very first mule coin that was the key element to their bond when he was a boy and marked the start of his father obsession with coin collecting that would later become a wedge in their relationship as John got older. He donates the money from the sale anonymously to finance Tim's operation. The next scene shows John back with his unit using the mule coin he kept for "fate." John then gets an unexpected letter from Savannah. In the letter, Savannah writes about how she knows that John sold his father's coin collection to help Tim with his operation and thanks him for doing so. Tim dies after two months. She expresses that she still wonders where John is and what he is going through but accepts that she lost the right to know a long time ago. Moved by Savannah's letter, John gets a new lease on life and decides to leave the army after his last tour. In the last scene of the film, John walks a bicycle down the block, and stops to chain it up. At that moment Savannah in the cafe behind him turns and spots him, John turns and they lock eyes through the Cafe's glass plate window. Savannah exits the cafe and embraces him.