A movie that lives close to my heart, A Walk To Remember is a sweet coming-of-age love story where a rebellious teen falls for a quiet young woman with a secret.
There are some movies that I can watch over and over. They run the gamut as far as decade (Little Miss Sunshine, The Princess Bride, and Grease 2 come to mind), but they all fill my soul with a peaceful (and sometimes musical) happiness. This is one of those movies.
A Walk To Remember is about Landon, a rebellious teen struggling with his parents’ divorce who is running with the wrong crowd. He has always known Jamie Sullivan, the reverend’s daughter, from school, but they were never friends. However, when Landon receives a school punishment to be part of the school play, he asks Jamie to help him with his lines. Ultimately, he gets to know her better than he ever would have expected.
This is one of the sweetest films. Starring Mandy Moore and Shane West (long before they were big names in the industry), Jamie believes in her religious faith and Landon believes in almost nothing. Slowly though, he begins to believe in her.
Based on the book by Nicholas Sparks, this movie moves along at a good pace, allowing you to fall in love with Jamie right along with Landon. She is kind, good, and very strong. She is different from what you think she is up front, which is exactly what Landon discovers as well. And in doing so, he discovers that he has hidden depths too.
One of my favorite things about this movie is the music. Much of it is sung by Mandy Moore (one song during the school play and other songs in the background or on the radio), and the earworms are ridiculous. I challenge you to get “Only Hope” out of your head once you’ve heard it. I usually hum it for days.
There are a few extremely cringey lines of dialogue, and you will know them when you hear them. They will make you laugh or smile, but stick with it. I do not believe that this is a perfect film (I mean, you hear her voice singing on the radio while Jamie is driving), but it really is lovely and it will likely make you cry.
With small parts by Daryl Hannah, Peter Coyote, and Lauren German rounding out the cast, I urge you to give this love story a chance. I enjoyed it much more than the book (which is rare) and although some of it is cliché, there is a depth and sweetness that you just don’t find everywhere. It’s not perfect, but I love it.
Runtime: 102 minutes
Motion Picture Rating: PG
Languages Spoken In The Film: English
Should You Watch It? Yes, definitely
Did I Cry? Yes
My Rating: 4/5 Stars
Available: Free on Prime Video and Tubi, or may be available for free on other streaming platforms
There are some movies that I can watch over and over. They run the gamut as far as decade (Little Miss Sunshine, The Princess Bride, and Grease 2 come to mind), but they all fill my soul with a peaceful (and sometimes musical) happiness. This is one of those movies.
