The Best of Me Movie Poster Image

The Best of Me

age 14+
(i)

 

Weepy Nicholas Sparks melodrama is cliché-ridden, violent.
Watch
Write a review
See all 11 user reviews
  • Review Date: October 17, 2014
  • Rated: PG-13
  • Genre: Romance
  • Release Year: 2014
  • Running Time: 117 minutes

The Best of Me gallery

What parents need to know

Positive messages

It's important to forgive (yourself and those you love) to move forward in life, young love can change your life forever, and family bonds can require more than blood. The story also encourages teens to be with someone who challenges you and encourages you to be the best you can be.

Positive role models

Tuck is a wonderful father figure to Dawson, who needs someone to care about him unconditionally. Dawson and Amanda push and challenge each other to be the best they can be and to not give up on their future. They love each other in an extraordinarily intense way for high school sweethearts, who could have easily let circumstances change their feelings.

Violence

A father severely beats up his son and threatens him. The father and his sons/nephews all beat the boy together, as well as beating up an unrelated man and leaving him unconscious. Characters are shot and killed; others are shot at and injured.

Sex

A couple makes love both as teens and as adults (the grown-up scene shows more skin but no actual nudity). As teens, their first time isn't explicit; viewers mostly see close-ups of their faces and backs. There's also a lot of passionate kissing. A woman commits adultery. Two different characters' unexpected pregnancies (one in high school and one in college) are discussed.

Language

Fairly frequent strong langauge, including "s--t," "a--hole," "son of a bitch," "bulls--t," "damn," "goddamn," "Jesus" (as an exclamation), and one use of "f--king" as part of an insult.

Consumerism

Several brands and car makes are featured, including Apple, Chevy, Dodge, Volvo, Corvette, Mustang, Volkswagen, Le Creuset, Sprite, Budweiser, Vivitar, and more.

Drinking, drugs, & smoking

As a teen, Dawson drinks a shot of liquor that's offered to him by Amanda's father. As adults, Dawson and Amanda and other characters drink wine and beer. Amanda's husband drinks too much and even drinks and drives. Dawson's family is shown drinking (mostly beer) and it's clear they're meth dealers, even though the drug's name is never said.

Parents Need to Know

Parents need to know that The Best of Me is a heart-wrenching tale based on one of author Nicholas Sparks' novels. The story (as anyone familiar with Sparks' romances could predict) is a weepy romance with dramatic twists and some heavy themes -- including child abuse, alcoholism, teen pregnancy, adultery, and murder. There are a couple of love scenes that don't show nudity but do feature close-ups of bare skin, passionate kissing, and touching. The language is occasionally strong (one "f---king," plus several uses of "s--t," "a--hole," "bitch," and more), and the violence can be intense and upsetting, particularly because it involves a father and his cronies beating up a son and wielding weapons against one another. Despite its heavy themes, the movie does have some positive messages, most notably about the power of forgiveness and the importance of being with someone who helps bring out the best in you.

What's the story?

Based on a Nicholas Sparks novel, THE BEST OF ME follows two time periods in the main characters' lives. It starts in the present, when Dawson Cole (James Marsden) is nearly killed in an oil rig explosion but has a vision of his first love Amanda and manages to survive. He's reunited with Amanda (Michelle Monaghan), now a stay-at-home mom, for the first time in 21 years when they're both summoned to their Louisiana hometown to settle the estate of their dear friend (and in Dawson's case, father figure), Tuck (Gerald McRaney). As they deal with their lingering feelings for each other, the high-school sweethearts reminisce about their relationship. Back in 1992, young Dawson (Luke Bracey) was a quiet but hunky gearhead-meets-physics buff who wanted to get far away from his abusive, drug-dealing family of alpha males. Amanda (Liana Liberato), meanwhile, was beautiful, confident, and intelligent and wanted a guy who wasn't just a spoiled rich boy. After meeting-cute over broken-down cars, they eventually fall in love, but their disparate backgrounds and futures seem like insurmountable obstacles.

Is it any good?

QUALITY

Both sets of The Best of Me's ridiculously attractive couples have the required chemistry to sell the "romance" part of this romantic drama, with Bracey doing his best at capturing the broody young boy from the wrong side of town (the only kind of guy Sparks can write, apparently). He's not particularly charismatic -- that's all Liberato, who all but glows in her retro sun dresses while delivering encouraging, heartfelt monologues -- but it's easy to see why the filmmakers chose him; Bracey's got a soulful-hunk look that will play well with girls (and women) who like their romantic heroes quiet and gorgeous.

The lovers' grown-up versions are played by well-known actors Monaghan (who definitely pulls off being the older version of Liberato) and Marsden (who in no way looks like the adult counterpart of Bracey). These are accomplished actors who've made several romances, but even they can't make the mushy, maudlin story any less cliched (to the point that it's occasionally laughable). The movie has some legitimately poignant elements -- particularly the disturbingly violent relationship between young (and old) Dawson and his family -- but by the time the drama's twists are revealed, some in the audience will be too busy rolling their eyes to feel emotional.

Families can talk about...

  • Families can talk about the popularity of romantic movies in which first love overshadows any subsequent relationships. Why are movies about the power of first love so appealing? What kind of message do they send to teen audiences?

  • How does The Best of Me depict teen romance and sexual relationships? Do you think Amanda and Dawson's forever love is believable? How do they help bring out the "best" in each other? Parents, talk to your teens about your own values regarding sex and relationships.

  • Author Nicholas Sparks is known for weepy, heartbreaking stories with life-and-death twists. How does this adaptation compare to others based on his books?

Movie details

Theatrical release date:October 17, 2014
DVD release date:February 3, 2015
Cast:Liana Liberato, Michelle Monaghan, James Marsden
Director:Michael Hoffman
Studio:Relativity Media
Genre:Romance
Topics:Book characters
Run time:117 minutes
MPAA rating:PG-13
MPAA explanation:sexuality, violence, some drug content and brief strong language

This review of The Best of Me was written by

Sandie Angulo Chen
Common Sense Media's unbiased ratings are conducted by expert reviewers and aren't influenced by the product's creators or by any of our funders, affiliates, or partners.

Quality

Our star rating assesses the media's overall quality.

Find out more

Learning ratings

  • Best: Really engaging; great learning approach.
  • Very Good: Engaging; good learning approach.
  • Good: Pretty engaging; good learning approach.
  • Fair: Somewhat engaging; OK learning approach.
  • Not for Learning: Not recommended for learning.
  • Not for Kids: Not age-appropriate for kids; not recommended for learning.

Find out more

About these links

Common Sense Media, a nonprofit organization, earns a small affiliate fee from Amazon or iTunes when you use our links to make a purchase. Thank you for your support.

Read more

About Our Rating System

The age displayed for each title is the minimum one for which it's developmentally appropriate. We recently updated all of our reviews to show only this age, rather than the multi-color "slider." Get more information about our ratings.

Great handpicked alternatives

  • The Notebook
    More sexy stuff than you'd expect for a syrupy romance.
    age 14+
  • Dear John
    Teens will swoon for far-fetched, syrupy romance.
    age 13+
  • Nights in Rodanthe
    Weepy romance is tame but may not interest teens.
    age 14+

For kids who love romance

Romance Movies
Romantic Comedies
See all recommended movie lists

Browse more movies

Top advice and articles

What parents and kids say

See all user reviews

Share your thoughts with other parents and kids Write a user review

A safe community is important to us. Please observe our guidelines

Teen, 15 years old Written byJflores14 October 18, 2014
age 15+

Great tearjerker is shockingly inappropriate

This book based film has amazing characters, humorous lines and a sweet romance. This said the sex, violence, nudity, and language all make this more a film for adults. CONTENT: (spoilers ahead) ******* Violence: a old man is beaten and thrown to the ground and bleeding. Kids are abused and slapped. At the very end of the film the main character is shot and killed by his father. A boy is shot in the head in a fluke accident. Sex: making out is seen. A couple is seen undressing and kissing on a bed. The girls breast is visible from the side. They thrust and make sexual motions. The boy kisses her chest area. In another scene the girl pulls off her pants exposing small underwear that shows part if her rear. They tumble onto a bed and they move sexually and sexual noises are heard. And in a lake scene a girl and a guy jump in and the girl is seen floating in the water and her breasts are fully visible through her shirt(this scene is like 20 sec long) a woman also has an affair. Language: 1 f**k, 5 sh*t, 3 a**, multiple uses of hell and gods name in vain. MY RATING: PG-13/ for thematic material, violence, sexuality, strong language, and strong nudity
What other families should know
Too much violence
Too much sex
Too much swearing
Was this review useful?
Flag as inappropriate 
Parent Written bydavidp 3 March 1, 2015
age 9+

A SMASHING REVIEW

Most people have negative comments on other pages.They do have they're points but for me,it struck a chord.How would i tell if its a damn good romantic movie?It is good if it moves me in ways that no other movies could.It was effective in a way that it was able to move me and my niece to tears.there are parts in the movie that relates to my lifeI also love the 90s setting in which songs like"Into Your Arms"by The Lemonheads and"All I Want"by Toad The Wet Sprocket played as background accompaniment.I must admit that those things got my attention.Even when I was a kid i was already making fictional stories in my mind and I was suprised that Nicolas Sparks beat me with the idea of putting it in a book.It also reinstated my respect for James Marsden as an actor. Anyway to end my comment,probably its just different strokes for different folks.its just the movie really hit me in ways that it didnt hit everyone.... David Dylan Malana Puzon.1V
What other families should know
Great messages
Was this review useful?
Flag as inappropriate 
Kid, 8 years old May 14, 2015
age 16+

Great love story is heartbreaking, but has very racy content, language, violence, and child abuse

This great romance is about two heart school sweet hearts named Dawson and Amanda, they are separated for 21 years after Dawson goes to prison, and now they try to get back together. This movie does have a lot of mature content like child abuse, and adultery. This movie also has plenty of racy content. There are 2 love scenes, and bare backs, legs, feet, and bras, and panties are shown. There is also one graphic love scene when they are adults same things are shown. There is some violence to, a man is accidentally shot in the head no blood shown, and there are scenes of child abuse. There is swearing but its not frequent. Overall its a great love story for romantic teens.
Was this review useful?
Flag as inappropriate 

See all user reviews

Poll

Did our review help you make an informed decision about this product?

Family Media Agreement