Love in the Sparks world is about finding the one. His romances feel epic and life-altering because all of his couples are finding their one. Of course note every love story told is about finding the one, but that's not what Sparks is interested in. His couples fall in love fast because they each know that this time it feels different. And I imagine that's what it feels like when people find their one—everything feels different, and maybe it can't be explained because how do you explain why it's this one person and not the person you were dating before (or are currently dating, more on that later)?
In the words of Ted Mosby, it's ineffable.
One thing that maybe doesn't get discussed about Sparks stories is how much cheating is involved. Allie cheats on her fiance Lon in The Notebook. Savannah cheats on John while he's deployed in Dear John. Amanda cheats on her husband with Dawson in The Best of Me. Gabby cheats with Travis in The Choice. In all these cases it's the woman who is in an existing relationship when the cheating occurs; the men are essentially single and have held a flame for decades (Noah and Dawson) or knew immediately they were in love with the woman (John and Travis).
It's an interesting dynamic that Sparks has set up. Certainly I don't condone cheating, and I don't think Sparks necessarily does either. He full on recognizes that people are messy and relationships are messy and sometimes people make bad choices but that doesn't make them bad people. No one is cheating out of meanness or spite or anger; it's always about love, and though it may sound like a bad excuse to some I tend to give it a pass. To Sparks, love is important. Life-altering. And worth making bad choices for, because loving someone fully and whole-heartedly is to be alive. (Small sidenote that in Safe Haven the novel Katie specifically does not sleep with Alex because she is still married, even though she's run away from her husband who is abusive.)
Many critics are unfairly harsh towards Sparks adaptations. They get called out for being unrealistic, cheesy, simple. But so rarely is the same harshness and critique applied to films that are made for a different, perhaps more "masculine" audience. Big action movies are also unrealistic, cheesy, and simple - is a dude really going to need to defend their family from invaders, or fight off cars that turn into sentient bots hellbent on destroying earth, or drive cars fast and furiously through exotic locales? Movies like that are mass marketed and have huge appeal, even if some do get harsh reviews from critics. The point is that they are seen as entertainment that can make money because their target is men.
But Sparks movies are known to be exclusively for female audiences, and anything made for females is immediately seen as inconsequential or ridiculous. Think about the reaction to Twilight, boy bands, fashion, decorating. Superficial and frivolous, and would only appeal to women. But I ask what is more likely to be a part of most everyone's life: falling in love and building a relationship and life with someone, or becoming a vigilante to protect your family from intruders (or driving cars fast and furiously)?
That was all a bit off-topic, so thanks for reading my short diatribe about taking films centered on love and romance and geared towards a female audience more seriously, or at least not completely dismissing them.
I truly enjoyed my time with The Sparks Oeuvre, experiencing people falling in love, staying in love, fighting for love, and losing love. Some were better than others, and overall I probably enjoyed the films more for their tighter storytelling and great actors and directors (and all the other important crafts-people that contribute to a film: make-up, wardrobe, lighting, location, editing). Here's my ranking of the book and movies, plus a few "favorites":
Favorite Male Lead (movie)
It's probably a tie between Landon Carter in A Walk to Remember and Logan Thibault in The Lucky One
Favorite Female Lead (movie)
I like Beth a lot in The Lucky One because she starts out tentative and a bit harsh but slowly loses that. And I like Theresa in Message in a Bottle because she's juggling different roles but is deep down a romantic.
Favorite Male Lead (book)
I'm going to go with Luke in The Longest Ride.
Favorite Female Lead (book)
Gotta be Katie in Safe Haven. She's got determination and a lot of strength, and I was hooked while reading her escape plan from her abusive husband.
Biggest Change from Page to Screen
Probably A Walk to Remember because it completely changes the setting from 1950s to present day.
Adaptation that stays most true to the source material
The Last Song (obviously, Sparks wrote the screenplay the same time he was writing the novel)
Most Disappointing Adaptation
The Longest Ride, because I liked the book so much and had never seen the movie before I had high expectations.
Best First Kiss
Tie.
A Walk to Remember because we are treated to the classic line of "I might kiss you." and Jamie responding with, "I might be bad at it." And you know Landon loves her because he then says, "That's not possible." but it's entirely possible she could actually be bad at kissing :)
The Choice because it's lit and staged really well, and then has this great exchange - Gabby: "Why are you walking slowly towards me?" Travis: "Because if I ran I'd scare you."
Best Sex Scene (movie)
The Lucky One
Sparks is generally pretty PG when he writes sex scenes. Sometimes he just writes "they made love" and sometimes he'll go into very simple explanation of actions leading up to sex. And his leads are always in love when they have sex. The only characters that don't have sex are Jamie and Landon in A Walk to Remember (book and movie), Ronnie and Will in The Last Song (book and movie), and Katie and Alex in Safe Haven (book only).
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