The Best of Me

Your interest in “Best of Me” can be gauged in two words: Nicholas Sparks. The author of “The Notebook” and “Dear John” has written 17 novels to date, nine of which have already become films, with two more on the way. There is obviously an audience for his material, but if you’re in the “Thank God we’re halfway through” camp, you are probably not in that audience. Most of his movie adaptations are very similar—lovers who must find themselves, shirtless hunks, an untimely death and coastal Southern locations. “Best of Me” doesn’t stray very far from that model, finding Michelle Monaghan and James Marsden reunited in their hometown after spending half their lives apart. How do you think it turns out? It is not worth asking where this ranks among Sparks adaptations; they’re all fairly repetitive exercises. Having said that, this is a bad movie by any other measure.