'Dear John' (PG-13)(out of four)

Novelist Nicholas Sparks has a knack for exploring the complexities of love and then finding realistic circumstances that throw a large wrench into the mix. Consider the star-crossed lovers of "The Notebook," or the middle-aged longing of two divorced lost souls in "Nights in Rodanthe."

In "Dear John," the latest Sparks novel to be brought to the big screen, it's a two-week summer romance, a soldier on leave dealing with his non-communicative father, and his involvement with a girl from the wealthier side of the tracks. This recipe is all that's needed to propel the romance story that, at its core, has been played out again and again since "Romeo and Juliet."

But with the tender direction of three-time Oscar nominee Lasse Hallström ("The Cider House Rules") coupled with Sparks' creation once again of characters that ooze depth, the film hits more than a few emotional nerves.

Channing Tatum plays John Tyree, a soft-spoken Special Forces soldier visiting his father in South Carolina while on a short leave. Savannah Curtis (Amanda Seyfried) is staying at her wealthy family's summer home for spring break. When the hunky John jumps into the water from a high-dive dock to rescue Savannah's purse after it goes overboard, it's the spark that begins an instant attraction.

Their two weeks of whirlwind romance, however, is constantly occupied by the looming inevitable: he'll be forced to return to his deployment and Savannah will head back to college. During the short span of time, Savannah gets to crack the hard surface of the tough soldier. She spends some time with John's father (Richard Jenkins), who is shy and insolated, and suffers from a milder form of autism, Asperger Syndrome. The only way to tap into Mr. Tyree's world is to take an interest in his one obsession, a massive coin collection started when the young John found a mule nickel, a U.S. mint misprint with a penny backside and a nickel face.

When the time comes for John and Savannah to go their separate ways, the two promise to write letters to each other; no e-mail, Twitter or Facebook exists in John's war world. The letter-writing campaign, while an intricate part of the relationship in the film, becomes a bit monotonous, and the film sags in its middle; John writing from some place in a far off desert, and Savannah waiting by the mailbox for his next post. Unfortunately, this is the trapping of presenting letter-writing on screen rather than words coming to life on a book page -- the words somehow get lost.

Yet the point is made. The love affair is beginning to get laborious, especially for Savannah who is the lady in waiting. At the end of John's leave, he returns to the place he met Savannah and, with a surprise twist in the story (albeit a bit dramatic), the depth of the characters and their difficult relationship returns; novelist Sparks and director Hallström sweep us away again.

The actors keep the story afloat. Tatum has the good looks and masculine energy that brings to mind Richard Gere sporting an officer's uniform in the classic "An Officer and a Gentleman." And when Tatum cries, get out the tissues.

Seyfried's pretty cheerleader charm creates the right tension to Tatum's tough guy appeal. And Richard Jenkins as the singularly focused father with a mentally crippling condition is at his usual best. Meanwhile, you'll barely recognize an all-grown up Henry Thomas (Elliott in "E.T.") as a single dad, and friend of the Curtis family, that happens to have a son with autism.

While "Dear John" doesn't hold up as well Sparks' whirlwind love story and heart-wrenching romantic "The Notebook," it's still worth writing home about.