Hello, beauts! I hope all of you had a lovely day. Today, I will review and offer commentary on A Walk to Remember. The story begins with a group of rebellious and angsty teenagers daring Clay Gephardt to jump from a high ledge into the river to become part of their group. Clay jumps, but loses consciousness after hitting a pipe, suffering serious injuries. The main character, Landon Carter, and his friend stay behind to help Clay, while the rest of the group flees when a security guard catches them trespassing. Landon is the only one who gets caught. The principal confronts him about drinking on school property and trespassing at the factory, and decides to give Landon an appropriate punishment. His punishment includes helping the janitorial staff after school hours, tutoring disadvantaged students at a sister school on Saturday mornings, and participating in the school’s spring play to positively influence his life.
I find this scene strange. Landon drops Belinda off at her house, and after she insists that he come inside, he reminds her that he won’t because they are already broken up. I find this odd because we don’t know why they broke up in the first place. I wish there had been more dialogue in this scene to explain the reason behind their breakup. I had assumed they were together because they shared the same friend group, and that it just didn’t work out between them. I felt that this scene needed more context.
After Landon has a bad session with a disadvantaged student, Jamie and Landon have their first one-on-one conversation. Jamie tries to make small talk, but Landon keeps ignoring her, listening to his headset. As Jamie continues talking, Landon snaps at her for trying to make conversation. She responds by telling him that he shouldn’t make assumptions about her. Landon then makes several claims about how most people are perceived on the surface, to which Jamie replies that she doesn’t care what people think of her. I felt like their conversation could have been deeper—perhaps Jamie could have shared more about who she is, allowing Landon to realize how wrong he was about her. Jamie has already gotten his attention, but I’m assuming she walks away because she fears people getting too attached to her and doesn’t want anyone to feel sorry for her because of her illness.
Landon arrives at his first acting class for the school play and is told that he will be playing one of the leads. After class ends, Jamie strikes up a conversation with Landon to understand why he isn’t making an effort to act well. They both agree that Landon only goes to school because of his popularity. Landon then realizes that his friend has ditched him, so he ends up getting a ride home from Jamie. During the ride, Jamie opens up about her to-do list and what she wants to achieve in life, such as spending a year in the Peace Corps, making a medical discovery, being in two places at once, and getting a tattoo.
In the next scene, we see Eric helping Landon rehearse for the school play. However, I am surprised that Landon tries to pretend everything is okay between him and Eric. We don’t see Eric explain his reasoning for not picking Landon up from class. I theorize that Landon is aware he’s in the wrong crowd but believes he has nothing to offer society, which is why he wastes time with people who do the same.
Now that Landon realizes Eric is only going to hold him back instead of helping him get ahead, he asks Jamie to help him with his lines. Jamie wants to help, but from a distance, because she is protective, knowing that Landon has a reputation as a troublemaker. Jamie agrees to have a one-on-one session to help Landon, but only on the condition that he won’t fall in love with her. Jamie seems like the kind of person who does so much for her community, but she tends to put up a barrier when it comes to offering personal help. Landon promises to keep his distance, so Jamie agrees to help.
Landon arrives at Jamie’s house to rehearse lines with her, and what disappoints me is that they cut away from showing them rehearse the scenes. They are beginning to get closer, and I would have liked to see Jamie getting to know Landon better. Jamie opened up about her goals, so it should be Landon’s turn to share now that she’s opened up. I know that Landon doesn’t have any goals after high school, but it would help Jamie understand why he feels stuck.
Huh? Why did Dean suddenly pull him aside and ask, “Are we cool?” I don’t remember anything that happened to make Dean question their friendship. WHAT WAS THIS SCENE EVEN ABOUT? It’s possible there was a moment of tension between them, but I feel like this is something Eric would have asked Landon if he had been acting coldly, especially after ditching him when the acting class ended.
Then we see that Landon finds Jamie walking into the cemetery. We found out that she set up her telescope to see the stars and Saturn, and she is hoping to build a bigger one to see the comet Hyakutake. The only issue I have with this scene. The way she says, “this stuff”, it is almost as if she was trying to understand him speaking from another language. They are truly polar opposites: his perception of this world is filled with suffering so why bother trying to find the good things in life. Jaime understands that there is hope despite suffering. Neither of them cannot seem to agree with the other.
In the next scene, Jamie approaches Landon in front of his friends to confirm their study session, but Landon gaslights her, making her believe that he has no idea what she’s talking about. I understand that Landon is a teenager afraid of facing rejection from his friends, but this creates a setback between Landon and Jamie. After school, Landon arrives at Jamie’s house to rehearse, but Jamie no longer trusts him and decides to stop helping. I personally believe that this is a bold move if someone embarrasses you publicly, but a part of me thinks that Jamie didn’t stand up for herself at school because she is easily hurt and distances herself from forming close relationships, except with her dad.
Landon begins to show character development after he hurts Jamie. Jamie was someone in his life who inspired him to do more for himself, and he doesn’t want that hope to fade away. Landon grows by helping a disadvantaged student with math through basketball, making more of an effort to rehearse his lines on his own, and taking accountability for tricking Clark into jumping into the river alone.
During the night of the play, Landon notices how beautiful Jamie looks with her hair done, makeup on, and dressed up. While I believe Jamie is already a gorgeous girl, there’s something eye-opening about the extra effort she put into enhancing her appearance. Mandy Moore delivered a fantastic performance of “Only Hope.” It’s such an unforgettable moment in the movie. Correct me if I’m wrong, but didn’t Landon go off script and kiss Jamie? If that’s true, then that’s the moment when he realizes he can’t hold his feelings back any longer. What did you beauts think about this scene?
Despite making more of his life and trying to do better, Landon still cannot talk to his father. In my opinion, Landon has every right to keep his father out of his life since his father abandoned him. However, after all the positive changes he has made, it would make sense for him to try to reconnect with his father. Landon has created a better life, and a neglectful father no longer has the power to change that. Still, I believe that his father’s abandonment has left a wound in Landon’s heart, and he worries that this wound could hurt others.
Landon tries to repair his friendship with Jamie, but she quickly dismisses his plea and walks away. There seems to be a pattern where Jamie tends to run away from anyone trying to get closer to her. When Landon chases after her, he confronts her about being scared to connect with someone, and she walks away, facing the hard truth that she wants to make a connection with him.
Huh, Eric says Landon doesn’t have time for his friends, but Eric and his friends keep ditching Landon. This argument doesn’t make any sense. The one thing that is true in this conversation is that Jamie has been influencing Landon for the better.
Belinda edits pictures of Jamie to make it look like she’s wearing a bikini. Jamie is hurt by this because she values modesty and prefers to wear covered-up or moral clothing. I don’t understand why Belinda would do this to Jamie if Landon has already moved on. I’m curious about what happened between Landon and Belinda—first love? First kiss? First time? Whatever it was, Belinda seems so invested in Landon that their relationship must have had a significant impact on her. We don’t see them in a relationship, so I’m left wondering what really happened between them. I also wonder why Landon started picking a fight with Dean, especially if the photos were clearly Belinda’s doing, since she was the one taking pictures of Jamie.
After Landon takes Jamie out of the cafeteria, he drives her home. Once she calms down, he asks her out, but she rejects him because her father does not allow her to date. After Landon gets Reverend Sullivan’s permission, we begin to see that Landon values Jamie, as she gives him hope and helps him regain his faith.
On Jamie and Landon’s date, we see that Landon is willing to step outside his comfort zone by dancing with Jamie, even though he struggles to dance. I see a parallel between Jamie and Belinda: Landon is only willing to dance with Jamie because she pushes him to try new things, while Belinda holds him back from achieving more. Later in the night, Landon helps Jamie achieve her goals by being in two places at once and getting a temporary tattoo.
Jamie and Landon have another night out in town after some time of dating. In the middle of the outing, Jamie confesses that she will not be able to achieve her other goals because she has leukemia. The line where she says, “I do not need a reason to be angry with God” was profound to me because she understands that life is unfair, but she has made peace with where her life will end up. She knows she cannot achieve all of her goals with the little time she has left, so she doesn’t want anyone to blame God for her illness.
I wish Landon hadn’t been so quick to dismiss his father when he was trying to get Jamie help. Dr. Carter was explaining that he didn’t know her medical history and was trying to offer assistance. The story would have more depth if Landon had been open to his father’s help.
One of my favorite lines in the movie is when Jamie says, “I’m scared of not being with you.” It’s not that she is dependent on him; rather, it’s that she has found a companion who makes her life feel more colorful. Jamie wants to spend the last moments of her life with Landon, who makes her extremely happy.
While Landon is building a telescope for Jamie, Dean arrives and offers to help. It’s strange how Dean offers Landon help, yet we don’t see him again until the end of the film. The transition was so abrupt.
I like how Reverend Sullivan explains that he kept Jamie to himself because he feared that if he let her go, he would lose her. This explains why Jamie has been so close to her dad and not anyone else.
When Belinda visits Landon to give him pictures from the play, I sense that she is being both forceful and kind in an attempt to get Landon to take her back. I found it strange that Belinda apologized to Landon about the flyers when she should have apologized to Jamie. I assume we don’t see her apologize to Jamie because Belinda has ulterior motives for being kind to Landon while he’s in a vulnerable situation. The kiss at the end confirmed that for me.
I’m not sure if the scene where Landon is weeping in his father’s arms is deserved. Don’t get me wrong—Dr. Carter paying for home treatment is an amazing gesture, but Landon has been so dismissive of his father throughout the film that there wasn’t a proper buildup to this moment. I would have liked this scene more if it had shown Landon giving his father a chance in earlier scenes. It also surprised me that Dr. Carter was at the wedding, which felt like another moment that wasn’t fully earned.
Landon asks Jamie to marry him, and she happily accepts his proposal. Jamie and Landon’s wedding was short and beautiful, but I wish we had seen more of their love during the summer together, rather than jumping to Landon four years in the future. Overall, the movie had good pacing, but there were definitely some scenes that didn’t make sense unless something had been cut. In some ways, the movie felt slightly rushed, though it was only a little noticeable. I really liked the music; it was catchy, but a couple of the songs used in certain scenes didn’t seem to fit the mood of the movie. As much as I enjoyed Mandy Moore’s amazing performance of “Only Hope,” it didn’t quite match the theme of the play. I feel like Jamie chose this song because she didn’t want to use any secular music. What do you guys think? I liked when the song “Cry” was played at the end of the movie—it fit so well with the mood, where Landon is still dealing with the loss, while Jamie has no regrets about the short time they had together. I was also fascinated by how Mandy Moore’s music video used Shane West to show Landon dealing with the aftermath. I personally thought that tactic was underrated. Normally, I’d say the movie’s music was just okay, but since most of the songs fit well into the scenes, I have to admit it was really good. Well, that was my movie review. What did you guys think? Do you agree or disagree? Thank you so much for reading!
Side note: I liked the movie poster, but it didn’t make much sense because Jamie looks more alive and content in it. I wish we had seen more of that version of her in the movie. I felt misled when I saw a much paler and sicker version of Jamie in the film.
RATING 5 OUT OF 10 STARS ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐_ _ _ _ _