'Dear John' screenwriter extends Nicholas Sparks' appeal

With conspicuous exceptions, 29-year-old men generally are not the target audience of a book by Nicholas Sparks, nor of a film based on his ardently romantic work.

True to form, screenwriter Jamie Linden had to sidestep some reservations when asked to pen the script for the adaptation of "Dear John."

"I was initially hesitant, since these aren't the movies I tend to go see," says Linden, whose first produced screenplay was for "We Are Marshall" (2006). "My preconceived notion about what Nicholas Sparks books and films are — not my type of movie, I thought — was turned around when I realized here was a chance to make something that can appeal to a wider audience, and guys wouldn't be embarrassed about seeing it or liking it."

Grit and range were two of the selling points of the contemporary romantic drama, now into its seventh week of principal photography under the direction of Lasse Hallstrom.

"It's a tougher piece than other stuff he's done, with a broader scope than usual. Typically, the stories just center on the Carolinas. But there are scenes in 'Dear John' that take place in Afghanistan, in Africa, in Eastern Europe. There's more of an epic, timeless feel to it. It's not a political movie about the Iraq war or about what's going on in the Middle East. The plot could be lifted out and reset in World War II or Vietnam."

Linden says Sparks taps into something that works, that readers and audiences find compelling.

"For me, it was about taking what he taps into and trying to broaden it. And it's already in the book. The movie can appeal not only to my parents, but to someone like me, a young guy who's lived through 9/11 and knows people who have to leave their girlfriends and go overseas. And people like me who have father issues or child issues. There's that father-son dynamic about 'Dear John' that makes it two love stories in one. It's not just the romance."

Line producer Jeremiah Samuels ("House of Sand and Fog") takes

an appreciation of Sparks' skill a step further.

"I think that Mr. Sparks is an amazing writer. And the reason I say this is because he is able to capture the essence of emotion that large numbers of people can relate to. There is a thread of his work that touches people. When I walk down the street in Charleston and people ask what kind of movie I'm doing, I say it's from a Nicholas Sparks book. And that's really a calling card for many people. He has the ability to distill that feeling people have about love."

As to Sparks' literary heft, Samuels makes a valid point.

"Sometimes, very dense, complicated works of literature do not make the best movies, while really beautiful, simple stories with clearly understood characters do. As a producer, I'm just looking for a great story. It can come from an original source or an historical incident, from a book or from somebody's imagination."

A deciding factor for Linden was that "Dear John" also focuses on a young soldier coming to terms with who his dad really is.

"The father-son relationship kept sticking with me," he says. "That and the quiet dignity exemplified by (leading man) Channing Tatum's character, a trait that often gets overlooked in military movies these days because they're all so political."

After first passing on the opportunity to write the screenplay, Linden changed his mind.

"The themes of it kept lingering in my mind though my brain was also fighting the fact that I would not normally be drawn to a project like this. Whenever you can't get something out of your head, it just simmers. When you keep going back to it, you have to listen. I realized I could bring another voice, something additional, to the script."

"We Are Marshall," which chronicled the horrific 1970 plane crash that claimed the lives of 75 members of Marshall University's football team and coaching staff, afforded Linden an unusually dramatic, real-world canvas. He relished it.

"When I pitched it to them the first time, I said this is literally one of those stories where we do not have to change a thing. In Hollywood, they fictionalize something at the drop of a hat. And to fictionalize that story would have been a disservice because everything already was there. Such an amazing story. I kept finding deeper and deeper layers."

The only real changes made in "We Are Marshall" were unavoidable: telescoping events to fit the constraints of the film's length and creating some composite characters.

"There was just too much good stuff, which is rare. Even many good movies create drama where it didn't exist. With 'We Are Marshall' there was so much drama that we had to scale back.

"The difference between writing that script and writing the one for 'Dear John' is a matter of exercising a different set of muscles and, with 'Dear John,' walking a fine line. But it's the same process, true or fictional."

Linden thinks "Dear John" will replicate some of the same resonance as "The Notebook," a movie in the Sparks canon he considers a success.

"It's about restraint rather than the large orchestral aspect. You can trust the moments that are naturally there, moments the actors can bring out without having to manufacture something superficial."

Reach Bill Thompson at bthompson@postandcourier.com or 937-5707.