The Best of Me is a 2014 American romantic drama when two young lovers from high school are turn apart only to return together to where it all started.
You know what to expect: a star-crossed romance for lovers from different worlds, kisses in the rain, moonlight swims, fateful separations and the tragic death of at least one leading character.
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.
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.
The Best of Me's chemistry lives in the idea of a second chance at first love - would you take it if you could? - but not between the actors, unfortunately.
