CHLOE / ***½

Distributor: Sony Classics
Release Date: March 26, 2010
Genre: Drama
Running Time: 96 minutes
MPAA Rating: R

If Amanda Seyfried wants to keep making weepy chick flicks like the Avatar-killing “Dear John” and the upcoming “Letters to Juliet,” that’s actually fine by me. As long as for every two of those she squeezes in a film like “Chloe” that lets her show off her unique charisma, she can make as many crappy chick flicks as it takes to pay her bills.

“Chloe” is actually a remake of a French film called “Nathalie…” that I happen to have seen while I was working at an awesome independent video store on a college campus that pretty much stocked every movie ever. Director Atom Egoyan (Oscar nominee for “The Sweet Hereafter”) is at the helm of this remake, which disproves the notion that every English speaking remake of foreign films is inferior to the original.

Seyfried stars in the title role, a beautiful young escort who gets an interesting business proposition. Julianne Moore and Liam Neeson play Catherine and David Stewart (no relation to the Eurythmics member or the former Oakland A’s Cy Young winner), one of those wealthy couples that appear to be perfect on the surface. When Catherine plans David a surprise birthday party and he somehow “misses his plane,” suspicions she must have had for years come bubbling to the surface.

Catherine wants to confirm her suspicions, and hires Chloe to interact with her husband and report back to her. Naturally, introducing a third party to an assumed monogamous sexual relationship is going to complicate matters, and that’s exactly what happens. Chloe also involves Catherine and David’s son Michael (Max Theriot of “Nancy Drew”), and things spiral out of control.

Egoyan does a superb job building the tension and revealing the story slowly. Moore and Neeson are old pros who not surprisingly can handle emotionally complex material like this. It’s Seyfried (and to a lesser extent, Theriot) that really surprises with the depth of her performance. Hopefully she’ll get the chance to show wider audiences that she’s capable of more than looking longingly at Channing Tatum. Those of us that saw “Chloe” already know.

Theater: AMC Oakview 24, Omaha, NE
Time: 1155 am
Date: April 8, 2010

DEAR JOHN / **½

Distributor: Sony / Screen Gems
Release Date: February 5, 2010
Genre: Romance
Running Time: 108 minutes
MPAA Rating: PG-13

Channing Tatum stars in the latest adaptation from Nicholas Sparks, the guy who wrote “The Notebook.” Guys, get ready, because your girlfriends are going to make you see this movie.

Truth be told, it’s not that bad of a movie to get dragged to. It’s formulaic and predictable, but under the steady directorial hand of Lasse Hallström (twice nominated for the best director Oscar for “My Life as a Dog” and “The Cider House Rules”), it becomes a very watchable film. And while your girlfriend is staring at Tatum, I doubt too many guys would complain about getting the chance to ogle Amanda Seyfried.

Channing stars in the title role, a solider enjoying leave in his hometown of Charleston, while Seyfried plays Savannah, a college student on spring break. The film wastes little time in putting these two aesthetically pleasing characters together and they fall in love pretty much instantly.

They spend a whirlwind two weeks together, doing all kinds of cute things and getting to know each other through montages set to sappy love songs. Then the two weeks is over – Savannah goes back to school, and John goes back to the army.

From here the film takes a “Lake House” type turn, as the main characters are connected only through the letters they write to each other. Promises are made and then broken, tears are shed, lather rinse repeat. The film does follow a formula but Seyfried is capable enough to handle this role, while Tatum has some kind of doofy charm in the sense that he plays every role in exactly the same way. She certainly has more range than him, as evidenced by her comedic turn in “Mean Girls” and being the best thing about last year’s “Jennifer’s Body,” but they work well enough together.

The screenplay by Jamie Linden (“We Are Marshall”) incorporates several other side stories involving Savannah’s family friend Tim (Henry Thomas, always a pleasure to see) and his autistic son Alan (Braeden Reed), as well as with John’s father (the great, Oscar-nominated Richard Jenkins). Thomas is an old pro and he has several good moments despite how the screenplay makes them feel forced. Jenkins in particular gives the film’s best performance, but these stories don’t ever really seem to enhance the main story but just give some added drama to create tears.

That being said, “Dear John” works on exactly the level one would expect it to, and that’s really all a movie like this needs to do.

Theater: RDM Westroads 14, Omaha, NE
Time: 730 pm
Date: February 3, 2010 (Promo)