The Best Of Me (2014)
TOMATOMETER
Critics Consensus: At nine films and counting, the line between Nicholas Sparks film fans and detractors is clear, and The Best of Me will change few minds on either side of the divide.
Critics Consensus: At nine films and counting, the line between Nicholas Sparks film fans and detractors is clear, and The Best of Me will change few minds on either side of the divide.
Trailer
ADVERTISEMENT
Movie Info
Based on the bestselling novel by acclaimed author Nicholas Sparks, The Best of Me tells the story of Dawson and Amanda, two former high school sweethearts who find themselves reunited after 20 years apart, when they return to their small town for the funeral of a beloved friend. Their bittersweet reunion reignites the love they've never forgotten, but soon they discover the forces that drove them apart twenty years ago live on, posing even more serious threats today. Spanning decades, this epic … More- Rating:
- PG-13 (for sexuality, violence, some drug content and brief strong language)
- Genre:
- Drama , Romance
- Directed By:
- Michael Hoffman
- Written By:
- Nicholas Sparks , Michael Hoffman , J. Mills Goodloe , Will Fetters
- In Theaters:
- Oct 17, 2014 Wide
- Box Office:
- $21.9M
Cast
-
Michelle Monaghan
as Amanda -
James Marsden
as Dawson -
Luke Bracey
as Younger Dawson -
Liana Liberato
as Young Amanda -
Caroline Goodall
as Evelyn -
Sebastian Arcelus
as Frank
Related News & Features
-
RT Podcast: Ep. 065 - Movies, TV, and Yeah, Whassup Monolo?
– Rotten Tomatoes
-
Critics Consensus: Fury is Certified Fresh
– Rotten Tomatoes
The Best Of Me Videos
Photos
Friend Ratings
No Friends? Inconceivable! Log in to see what your friends have to say.
LoginCritic Reviews for The Best Of Me
All Critics (73) | Top Critics (21) | Fresh (7) | Rotten (66)
The melodrama feels so hurried and half-baked that the end result isn't just disappointing. It's borderline infuriating.
The sunlight is golden, the accent's rural (this one's set in Louisiana), people die, sagacious letters are read aloud.
For all of the eventfulness it jams into a (poorly edited) two-hour package, The Best Of Me ends up extracting the best of absolutely no one.
As a drama, it fails, but the camp value is high, making it more fun than your average would-be weeper. It's silly, but at least it's not a slog.
Interminably long, dragging out its molasses heart through what seem like three different endings.
We've seen this story told in similar fashion so many times in the past. I only wish we could have had it delivered in a fresher, less clich�-filled package.
I would be amazed to hear even the most ardent Sparks fan defend it as anything more than rubbish.
The Best of Me turns into a half-baked dramatic thriller, with violent confrontations, gunfights, plenty of nasty characters and one big scary action scene.
This film could be a real tearjerker for Sparks fans; everyone else may find it tough to stomach.
There's something heavy-handed, even for Sparks, in the telling of the couple's story, particularly when it comes to Dawson's family: they are leering, brutal embodiments of evil who function as handy plot devices.
A rather typical Nicholas Sparks adaptation...
Grab a tissue and get ready to have your heartstrings tugged in this Nicholas Sparks melodrama, replete with its elements of love and loss....The perfect date movie, the film is romantic in the purest sense
The Best Of Me, like all Sparks' work, would rather kill his characters and leave a beautiful corpse than have them continue a real, scarred relationship.
Dawson is called a "white trash piece of (poo)" by his own daddy, which is rich, because daddy -- a low-rent bayou criminal with a mean dog on a chain, a shanty tramp on his lap and jet-black dye on his hair -- actually is a white trash piece of (poo).
Welcome the latest Nicholas Sparks adaptation: always the same, always a bit different (but mostly the same).
Me didn't have to be classy, but remaining human would've been nice.
You can sneer, but I don't care - the heart wants what it will, and my heart wants Sparks. So there.
Like a hack tunesmith that keeps rewriting the same melodies over and over again, hoping his legion of fans don't notice the ruse, we've heard this Sparks song before.
The film is a huge letdown due to the script. The third act is so much a nonsensical head scratcher that it takes away the alluring romance fans wanted to walk away with.
The Best of Me is quite possibly the worst Nicholas Sparks adaptation ever committed to film.
The worst Nicholas Sparks film of the nine based on his novels, this is the epitome of disingenuous, manufactured and manipulative. The salt on the wound of an already bleeding heart is that the young adults outshine our artificial "A"-list lovebirds.
Hoffman brings [the] novel to the screen with spectacular beauty, filling viewers with warmth and a renewed belief in fate - even if the end-result is bittersweet.
"The Best of Me" will likely play well with its intended audience, who know to bring a travel-size pack of tissues to the theater. But thanks to its ending, this doesn't rank among the better Nicholas Sparks adaptations, like "The Notebook."
"I never thought a movie would make me long for the gritty realism of 'The Notebook.'"
Weepy Nicholas Sparks melodrama is cliche-ridden, violent.
Audience Reviews for The Best Of Me
The film will have the occasional charm and drama to please audiences, but is virtually a clichéd attempt at another romantic novel adaptation. The Best of Me presents anything and everything you come to expect from a Nicholas Sparks story, but it's ultimately brought down from a poor execution and bland script. 2.5/5
MoreSuper Reviewer
It's not a film I hated, instead it uncovered a whole new level of disbelief that a film can be this terrible.
MoreSuper Reviewer
Discussion Forum
Discuss The Best Of Me on our Movie forum!