As I sat in the movie theater awaiting the start of the movie I had high expectations. Number one, ‘The Best of Me’ was based off a Nicholas Sparks novel so I knew it was going to be one of those love stories every girl dreams of. And, number two, the previews for this movie gave it a ridiculous amount of hype and I was more than ready to see if it lived up to it.

As I already stated, ‘The Best of Me’ was based off of a novel written by Nicholas Sparks. Some of Sparks’ other novels include ‘Safe Haven’, ‘The Last Song’, ‘The Lucky One’, ‘A Walk To Remember’ and,  yes, even ‘The Notebook’. He is responsible for giving young teenage girls relationship expectations that no boy could ever live up to. Thank you, Nicholas Sparks.

The Best of Me started off with one of the main characters, Dawson Cole, on an oil rig out in the middle of the ocean where he works. Later that night, after his work was done for the day, an explosion interrupts his star gazing and sends him flying into the ocean. He layed there, 100 feet into the ocean, for three hours before he is fished out. Simultaneously  his old friend Amanda Collier watches the skies from her home while she talks with her son about his future plans for college.

Cole survives  the fall from the rig miraculously but wonders if there is a particular reason for this. None of his doctors knew why he survived and he feels as if he was given a second chance at life. Soon after he arrives home from the hospital, he receives a call from an attorney who says Tuck, his good friend and mentor for many years, died. Amanda receives the same call and they both pack their bags to return to Tuck’s home for a meeting with his attorney.

The next day, Amanda and Dawson run into each other at Tuck’s house not knowing that they will both be at the same meeting with Tuck’s attorney the following day. They are there to discuss Tuck’s wishes and divide up his personal belongings. Dawson, being single, is interested in catching up with Amanda but she’s hesitant at first. Not only because she has a husband waiting for her back home, but also because she doesn’t fully forgive him for what he did to her when they were younger.

How they met, how their relationship began and the troubled childhood Dawson lived through was all revealed in flashbacks that Amanda and Dawson have throughout the film. You get a chance to see Amanda and Dawson at their best and worst times while they attempt to rekindle their relationship that was broken so many years ago.

It doesn’t take long for Amanda and Dawson to realize that the love they shared with each other so long ago, is still in their hearts. Amanda finally opens up to Dawson sharing her life with him and expressing the hatred she has lived with for so many years. I’m sure you’re curious as to what Dawson did but I can’t just give away one of the biggest shocks in the whole movie. Of course if you read the book you’ll already know what happened, but ,if not, seeing the movie is probably your only chance at discovering the secrets Dawson and Amanda share together.

Amanda eventually forgives Dawson and they relive their teenage years together as adults by jumping into lakes and dancing in the living room by the light of the fireplace late at night. As most Sparks novels go the ending to the movie is astonishingly unpredictable. Definitely worth my hour and 58 minutes on a Saturday afternoon and more than worth the over priced popcorn I enjoyed along with the film.