Behind this well-constructed facade of a cynical blogger there lies the heart of a true romantic. I mean, who doesn’t sometimes want to watch an unforgivably schmaltzy movie full of beautiful people discovering their beautiful past loves? Â Thankfully, we continue to get movies of Nicolas Sparks’ novels to fulfill our cheesy romantic needs, and there’s no sign of either Sparks or Hollywood letting up.
The latest Sparks novel to get the cinematic treatment is The Best of Me, which stars James Marsden and Michelle Monaghan as former lovers who meet again after 20 years apart, when they attend the funeral of an old friend. Sparks once again fly, and the pair reignite their lost love affair as they learn some truths about what happened to drive them apart all those years ago. This being a Sparks story, it will probably involve family vendettas, melodramatic reunions, passion, and rain.
The real comfort of these types of films are just how predictable they are. There’s no doubt that the lovers will face new trials and old tribulations, but they will come out of it all right – or at least come out of it in a way satisfying to the viewer?
Both Marsden and Monaghan are entertaining actors to watch; actually, I think they both deserve bigger and juicier roles than the ones they typically take, but that’s neither here nor there. In the new trailer for The Best of Me they seem to have good chemistry, and they’re certainly nice to look at. I don’t think we can ask for much more than that. One does almost wish for a director the caliber of Douglas Sirk to take on these kinds of melodramas, but that is a lost dream.
The Best of Me comes to theaters on October 2. You watch the latest trailer (introduced by Lady Antebellum, who features on the soundtrack) below.
