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"Dear John," the latest tearjerker based on a Nicholas Sparks ("The Notebook") novel, accomplishes everything you'd expect from an unapologetic "chick flick," but it could have also worked for the male contingent if not for a few unneeded twists.

The film starts in 2000 when John, (Channing Tatum, "G.I. Joe: Rise of Cobra") a Special Forces soldier on leave, meets Savannah (Amanda Seyfried, "Jennifer's Body"), a college student returning home to North Carolina for spring break. The two fall for each other quickly, perhaps a bit too easily in screenwriter Jamie Linden's ("We Are Marshall") script, which needed more insight as to why they are captivated beyond an intense attraction.

John makes fast friends with Savannah's longtime family friend, Tim (Henry Thomas, "E.T."), and his autistic son Alan (Braeden Reed in his film debut) and Savannah connects with John's possibly autistic father (Richard Jenkins, "Burn After Reading"), so all is well for this happy couple.

But alas, their happiness can only last for so long, as John has to return to active duty and Savannah needs to hit the books. They promise to write each other letters as often as possible.

Tatum shows more range than his previous roles — granted he didn't need all that much in "Fighting" and "Step Up" — and he reveals a vulnerability and gentler side sure to evoke more than a few tears and copious amounts of used Kleenex.

During a brief return home, John pleads with Savannah for guidance with his military career. Tatum lays his emotions bare and you see an actor beginning to come into his own as a performer beyond the pretty face.

For those not impressed by his acting, he finds numerous ways to show off his abs, showing the "Twilight" boys they're not the only ones who can parade around without a shirt. Seyfried cries on cue and plays the perfect girlfriend fine, but the film is really the man's tale.

Oscar nominated director Lasse Hallstrom ("The Cider House Rules") has an unenviable task of balancing John and Savannah's romance and getting the appropriate measure of youthful yearning with the more serious aspects of John on the battlefield, but he handles it very tastefully, particularly the two different perspectives of Savannah and John on Sept. 11, prompting John's decision to re-enlist.

Everything is moving along fine, hitting all the right emotional chords for a romance drama, until Savannah ends their relationship — finally paying off that "Dear John" title — explaining that she's found someone else in an overly complicated twist.

The twist, mostly faithful to Sparks' novel, doesn't have the luxury of numerous pages to get into the character's heads to explain their thinking. Their actions are rendered needlessly cut and dry when there are so many logical responses.

True romantics will still happily go along with it, holding out hope that somehow John and Savannah will reunite to enjoy their happily ever after moment, but for those on the fence with the story waiting to see how it will unfold, the magic's gone as the film creeps to its awkward ending.

Sparks' novel ends differently than the film's, which seems crafted to send the audience home happy, but the story seems more genuine and less patronizing to audiences without the Hollywood ending.

Dear John

PG-13; Romance; 105 minutes

Director: Lasse Hallstrom

Cast: Channing Tatum, Amanda Seyfried, Richard Jenkins, Henry Thomas, D.J. Cotrona and Scott Porter

Rating: 3 out of 5 stars