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One word: disappointing.

All the hype about “Dear John” being the next great romantic film equal to “The Notebook” will die down once people start seeing the film.

The film is a romantic drama about a young army sergeant, John, who falls in love with a straight edge college girl, Savannah, during his leave.

When John must go back to the war, he promises Savannah he will be back in one year to be with her. The two agree to write everything down in letters.  

Channing Tatum plays John Tyree and it is one of his more convincing and serious performances. However, he does not have to do much but stand there and look pretty.

Recent “Mamma Mia” star Amanda Seyfried plays his love interest, Savannah Curtis.

The two literally fall in love at first sight, but the chemistry between the lovers is not strong enough for the audience to really feel something.

All the elements of a great love story are there, but the film doesn’t get the job done. There is no spark to trigger the audience’s emotions.

Another plot line is that Savannah is friends with her neighbor Tim and his son, Alan.

Alan is autistic and through this Savannah hints to John that perhaps his father is as well.

These themes usually make for very emotional, deep and moving scenes. But in “Dear John” that is not the case.

Even the year of separation and intense letter writing does not tug at the viewer’s heartstrings. Something is lacking.

I don’t know if it is because the actors are not up to the challenge of playing desperate lovers torn apart by war or if the novel and screenplay were at fault.

Nicholas Sparks is the author of “Dear John,” which was published in 2007, but he also is the author of “The Notebook,” “A Walk to Remember” and “Message in a Bottle” to name a few that have also been made into outstanding films.

Because of the success of the previous films, the expectations for this film were exceptionally high.

However, it just does not meet the expectations, unless, of course, you are an adolescent girl between the ages 12 to 15.

And don’t get too excited about the ending.

Yes, it’s one of those leaving you wanting to know more endings.

Overall, read the book and then wait for the movie to come out on DVD.

Your money will be much better spent on the novel than the adaption on the big screen.