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Here's a look at the new movie I saw this week.

Best of Me
Starring: James Marsden, Michelle Monaghan, and Gerald McRaney
Synopsis: Nicholas Sparks has been a prodigious writer when it comes to modern romance stories, and nearly all of them find their way to the screen. Sure, they are highly formulaic, but often they have a niche audience, too. The problem isn’t who is going to watch them, but if there’s any mystery left. Sparks’ films always follow the same model, and that usually includes the death of at least one major character. They are romance stories, yes, but not everyone gets a happy ending. “Best of Me” follows that model to perfection. It’s a story of romance, but it doesn’t mean everyone gets a happy ending. But after years of seeing these stories play out on the big screen, it’s fair to wonder if audiences have grown weary of them. That seems to be the case as “Best of Me,” despite being well put together, didn’t fare well at the Box Office. There is nothing wrong with “Best of Me.” It delivers exactly what you’d expect from a Nicholas Sparks adaptation, and it delivers about what you’d expect from watching the trailer. Monaghan and Marsden are good actors, and they play well of each other here. But the problem is there’s nothing new or especially compelling here. The story plays by the numbers, many of the supporting characters are flat and the movie takes longer than it needs to before arriving at a fairly predictable conclusion. The film is fine, but not particularly memorable. The script was adapted by J. Mills Goodloe (“Pride,” “A Gentleman’s Game”) and Will Fetters (“Remember Me,” “The Lucky One”), and has little flash or pop. In fact, at times it feels oddly paced and perhaps overly long. That, too, could be a function of the direction of Michael Hoffman (“One Fine Day”). Sparks remains a popular novelist, and his stories draw well. Doubtless “Best of Me” won’t be the last adaptation of one of his novels, and there is a built-in audience for that, too. But the best of his adaptations have dynamic characters and a compelling story. “Best of Me” felt too much like a paint-by-numbers version of that. It captures all the clichés and familiar tropes of Sparks’ work, but it lacks the heart.
Rating: PG-13 for sexuality, violence, some drug content and brief strong language.
Verdict: Two stars out of four.

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