The Best of Me
Saturday, March 07, 2015 |
| "The Best Of Me" official still photo - source: imdb.com |
“You
weren’t just someone I loved back then. You are the very best of me.”
(The Best Of Me, 2014)
“You
have wounds that have never healed. You’ve lived with them so long. You don’t
even know that they’re there anymore. Pain has deep roots. The only way to dig
it out is to forgive him and forgive yourself.” –Tuck Hostetler (The
Best Of Me, 2014)
“I got
you together here because I don’t want either of you living with regret. You
two were meant to love each other. You needed a chance to remember that. I’m
not saying you’re gonna be together; I don’t know that. And if it doesn’t work
out, you’ll miss her so much. You’ll barely be able to move. You’ll feel you
have no purpose, no reason to go on. But there’s nothing to do but wait. Wait
and it’ll get clear to you. You’ll get on with your life, and gifts will come
into it.” –Tuck Hostetler (The Best Of Me, 2014)
Title : The Best Of Me
Director : Michael Hoffman
Starring : Michelle Monaghan, James Marsden,
Luke Bracey, Liana Liberato
Genre : romance, drama
Distributor : Relativity Media
Release
date : 17 October 2014
Running
time : 118 minutes
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| "The Best Of Me" movie poster - source: imdb.com |
People
say that soulmates are connected by the heart. No matter how far the distance
puts them away physically, soulmates can always feel each other. It’s the soul
that connects between two people who belong with each other; that’s why they
called soulmates. Having a soulmate is like fill in the blank, bring out the
best in everybody, being the best of everybody, find our best self when we are
with that person. Well at least that’s what I believe a soulmate is. People
come and go in our life, but a soulmate comes and may go, but a soulmate
definitely stays forever in the heart. There’s one soulmate for everyone in a
lifetime, but well you know, life is full of surprises until the point it’s
terrifying. We never know what life would bring upon us, today, tomorrow, next
month, next year, or even some minutes later. And there’s a thing that
terrified me the most, it’s what if I’ve met my soulmate, but I’ve just let it
slip away from my hand?
They
say that you’re lucky enough if you could marry your soulmate. Because most of
people don’t, or can’t. There are many versions of it. Ones say that in this
life you don’t have only one soulmate, and that the person you marry is
definitely one of them. Others say that you have only one soulmate in a
lifetime, and that the person you marry is not always your soulmate. It’s
confusing, isn’t it? Anyway, I believe the second one better than the first
one. Because, you know, there won’t be any divorce or separation when everyone
could marry their soulmates. We might be fated with more than one person, and
that’s why we fall in and out of love more than once in our lifetime. But
somehow I believe, we only have one soulmate; the one whom we share our souls,
and we only meet that person once in our lifetime. Whether we end up being
together with that person or not, the soulmate will always have a meaningful
place in our heart and mind. The soulmate will always be that kind of person;
whom we never stop loving even after many times have passed; who even after
they leave, nothing is going to be the same for us, ever again.
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| "The Best Of Me" official still photo - source: imdb.com |
Talking
about soulmates and all, I would like to write about a 2014 melodrama movie
titled “The Best Of Me”. The story begins with Dawson Cole (portrayed by James
Marsden) who gets an accident at the rig where he works at which almost takes
away his life. At that moment when he is near to death, a woman’s face comes
into his mind. It’s a miracle that Dawson survives the accident, but then he
receives a news that his surrogate father, Tuck Hostetler (Gerald McRaney), has
died. Dawson then comes back to his hometown, and that’s when he meets Amanda
Collier (portrayed by Michelle Monaghan), his first love whom he hasn’t met
again since 21 years ago. It turns out that Tuck was not only leave a last
message for him, but also for Amanda as well. The meeting takes them back to
more than two decades ago, when young Dawson (Luke Bracey) met the young Amanda
(Liana Liberato) for the first time. It was when they began to know each other
and fell in love. It was when they were highschool sweethearts.
Dawson
grew up in a troubled family. His father, Tommy Cole (Sean Bridgers), was a
criminal and very abusive towards his own son. Although he’s brilliant and
handsome, Dawson didn’t have the confidence and guts to date Amanda, a
beautiful lady from a rich and dignified family. But she didn’t give up easily
and she didn’t care even after her father openly and strongly opposed their
relationship. And it was on the day of their senior prom, when Dawson should
picked her up but he didn’t show up because of a family matter. Now, after 21
years have passed, they meet again due to Tuck’s last will. Amanda and Dawson
can’t resist the strong feeling they still have towards each other. However,
everything else has changed. Amanda is already married, though her marriage is
no longer bring happiness for her. Dawson knows nothing but feeling sorry that
he was letting Amanda slipped through his hand back then. Despite all, they
understand that the love is still there; that it’s always there. How will they
sort their feelings toward each other? What are they looking for from each
other now? Do they want them to fall back in love with each other again? How do
they do that if they haven’t ever stopped?
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| "The Best Of Me" official still photo - source: imdb.com |
Some
people perhaps already have enough of Nicholas Sparks’ melodramas, but me, well
I love melodramas. And I have to say that “The Best Of Me” is on the top five
list, along with “A Walk To Remember”, “The Notebook”, “Dear John”, and “Safe
Haven”. And I also have to say that the main attraction of this movie is the
cast. It was a very great job done by the production team to choose Michelle
Monaghan and Liana Liberato to portray the adult and young Amanda Collier
respectively. They did resemble each other. Meanwhile for James Marsden and
Luke Bracey, well I can’t say that they resembled each other as much as
Monaghan and Liberato, but they did play their own parts very well by
portraying the adult and young Dawson Cole respectively with the same kind of
vibes. Both Liberato-Bracey and Monaghan-Marsden were making lovely couples
with their own charms. Other supporting casts were great too. The
angel-in-disguise Tuck Hostetler and evil Tommy Cole were brought into life
wonderfully by Gerald McRaney and Sean Bridgers respectively. Everyone fell
right into their characters, indeed.
I
always love the idea of using young-adult counterparts in a movie. It’s very
tricky though for the production team. But when they could pull it well, then
it would be so great. Say it like South Korea’s “Introduction to Architecture (건축학개론)” (2012) –also
known as “Architecture 101”– which use young-adult counterparts very well in
it. Thankfully, “The Best Of Me” did the same well done job, as I’ve mentioned
before, by putting the right cast. Through the counterparts, we could see how
the main characters grow throughout the story. It depicts that every choice
people make in their life will affect their future choices, how it gives impact
to their life, and where it takes them. At some points, when everything seems
to have changed, there are things that have never. And it takes 21 years for
Amanda and Dawson to realize that for them, it’s the love they have for each
other that have never changed. It takes 21 years for them to finally understand
that they’re a soulmate.
The
plot of “The Best Of Me” storyline is going back and forth between the past and
the now in a very smooth way, which making it comfortable and exciting to
watch. Begins with the two ex-lovers reuniting awkwardly for the first time
after 21 years of separation, and then continues with how they were meeting for
the first time 21 years ago. As the story goes, while the adult Amanda and
Dawson are trying hard to put down the weight off of their hearts while trying
to figure out what they feel toward each other now, we can see how the
relationship was built between the young Amanda and Dawson; crazily yet deeply
in love, a-burning-hot-young-love kind of love that goes strong though some
family issues stand between them. And when the adult Amanda and Dawson finally
come to an understanding that they do still in love with each other, after all
of those times, the story finally reveals the reason why the young Amanda and
Dawson broke up and separated back then. Moreover, the plot gives us a
not-very-surprising-twist towards the end of it, but it’s indeed a very
heartfelt one in the universe of melodramas.
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| "The Best Of Me" official still photo - source: imdb.com |
One
thing that I always expect from Nicholas Sparks, is the moral of the story.
They always talk about true love and soulmate, but “The Best Of Me” is beyond
that. It also talks about family; one thing that is missing in most of Sparks’
stories. However, family issue is blended perfectly in this movie. It even
becomes the fundamental influence to the backbone story of the relationship
between Amanda and Dawson. Moreover, the story is about finding the true self
of your own, through love and family; that to live is to give meaning.
Everything happens for a reason, and everyone lives for a certain purpose.
Dawson used to think that he was nothing and didn’t deserve anything good in
this life; that his existence was meaningless. When he met Tuck, he realized
that he was meant a gift for him, a family, a son he never got to have before.
When he met Amanda, he understood that he was meant everything for her, a
bestfriend, a lover, a very best of her; as well as she was for him. And that’s
a soulmate really means; a love that won’t fade in time, a heart that brings
out the best in us, a home to come back to, always.
As
I’ve mentioned many times before, “The Best Of Me” was based on a novel of the
same name by Nicholas Sparks, that was first published in 2011. The love story
between Amanda and Dawson is got me so and inspiring me in some ways. That’s
why I choose it as the second movie for My
Choices: Continue Living post. I have to note the chemistry between Luke
Bracey and Liana Liberato, who portrayed the young Dawson and Amanda
respectively, for leaving a very deep impression in me with their portayals. Well,
first love is unforgettable, soulmate comes only once in a lifetime, true love
stays forever in the heart, and life is too short to let it slip away. Perhaps
I’ve met my soulmate without even realizing it, or perhaps I haven’t met him
yet. Anyway, have or haven’t, someday I’ll understand, because everything
happens for a reason, and a soulmate doesn’t come just for a season. If I’ve
let him slip away before, then he will come back around. I believe that.
“When
I was young, I looked for a shape to things; a reason or a design. So much of
what happened to me, though, felt like an accident. So I guess I lost faith in
all that. When I survived my fall, I began to wonder if there wasn’t some
purposes to my life. Maybe I was on a destined path, even if I couldn’t see it
yet. When I saw you again, I believe we’d been given a second chance, that the
universe had decided to give us that. You have commitments, I understand, and
you want to keep them. I can only love you more for that. I hope to see you
again someday, but if I don’t, just know that these last days have been the
best of my life. I love who I am when I’m with you. You are my dearest friend,
my deepest love. You are the very best of me.” –Dawson Cole (The Best Of
Me, 2014)
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