the only thing romantic about this movie be the pain and anguish of romance . if you be expect this cinematic adaptation of another nicholas spark novel to follow the surefire formula of previous film and such a message in a bottle and night at rodanthe and and a walk to remember and think again . nobody die from an accident try to save somebody else and the romance here doesn not transform these character . if anything and it make them even more miserable than they be . a soft spoken special force army sergeant and john tyree ( channing tatum of g. i. joe ) and have a memorable two week fling while on leave from the military with an impressionable college girl and savannah curtis ( radiant amanda seyfriend of mamma mia ) and who be spend spring break in south carolina . savannah doesn not drink and smoke and but she tell john that her head be fill with profanity . inevitably and john and savannah topple madly in love with each other and launch an endless exchange letter of love letter that be sleep inducing by any standard . tyree be off in the world serve the military in some godforsaken corner of the globe while she be away at college peruse his letter in class . just a they be get hot and heavy between them and suicidal terrorist crash plane into the world trade center . john reenlists along with his buddy in a wave of patriotism without discuss the option with savannah . meanwhile and another guy and shaggy but likable family friend tim ( henry thomas of e. t. represent the extra terrestrial ) who have a motherless and autistic child name alan become the object of savannah sentiment . she be the kind of girl who help build house for the less fortunate and want to start a summer horse ranch for autistic child . she delay what seem forever before she finally contact tyree with the eponymous letter . indeed and she dump him for a man with a disease . later and she confess to john that she know the sound of his voice would have break her resolve to marry tim and so she doesn not make that fateful call . predictably and john agonizes over savannah lack of communication . during a routine mission and our hero take a couple of terrorist bullet in the back and wind up in germany . while all this be transpire and tyree be try to come to term with his own coin collect father and mr. tyree ( richard jenkins of step brother ) and who suffers from asperger syndrome . it seem that his father be on his last leg after john get out of the hospital . the lead female character lack a shred of respect and her betrayal of tyree amount to a pretty low blow . tyree and his father and and tyree commander and keith robinson and be the only sympathetic character in this long distance epistolary romance . dear john give new mean to lethargic love story . yuck .