‘The Best of Me’ Swings into Theaters October 17

Jonathan Graves

Acclaimed author/producer Nicholas Sparks (“The Notebook,” “Safe Haven”) and producer Denise Di Novi (“Crazy, Stupid, Love,” “If I Stay”) come together for their fifth project, alongside director Michael Hoffman (“One Fine Day,” “The Last Station”) to bring Sparks’ romantic novel “The Best of Me” to life on the big screen.

“The Best of Me” is the story of Amanda Collier and Dawson Cole, two teenagers from opposite sides of the track who are given a second chance later in life to explore what could have been. The film begins in the American south in the 1990s when Dawson Cole, a shy boy who knows more about cars than flirting, meets, and falls in love with, a popular girl, Amanda Collier.  They are separated by circumstance but brought back together as adults on behalf of a dying friend.  At this point, Dawson and Amanda are forced to relive past experiences and come to terms with what happened between them so many years ago.

Two-time Screen Actors’ Guild-nominated actor James Marsden (“X: Men Days of Future Past,” “The Notebook”) portrays Dawson as he looks to rekindle Amanda’s romantic feelings for him during present day, while up and coming Australian actor, Luke Bracey brings the same character to life during that earlier romantic time in his teenage years.  Amanda, portrayed both by Michelle Monahan (“Source Code,” “True Detective”) and Liana Liberato (“If I Stay”), bring romantic chemistry to the screen in true Nicholas Spark’s fashion. The connective tissue of the film is the lovers’ confidante, Tuck, played by the ever-engaging Gerald McRaney (“House of Cards”). The supporting cast rounds out with Sebastian Arcelus (“House of Cards”) as Frank Cole, whose darkness that threatens Amanda and Dawson’s relationship.

As the two chronologies become more and more complex, many of the characters’ previously held assumptions unravel. It’s through their mentor’s passing that the two are able to rekindle that first love, but the separate lives they had built in their 21 years apart force Amanda and Dawson to make difficult decisions that will affect the rest of their lives.

“The Best of Me” opens in theaters Oct. 17.