Nicholas Sparks’ movie will no doubt “spark” some interest (get it?) for the romantically inclined, but I was disappointed that it was in the last third of the film that it ceased to be eligible for our Dove Seal as it featured profanity and a strong sex scene. It had been pretty much sailing along with the Dove Seal within sight until then.

Zac Efron continues to develop as an actor as he is quite believable in his role as Logan Thibault, a former marine who saw his buddies die in Iraq. He is in excellent shape too as a marine would be. The premise is that he finds the picture of a beautiful young woman with a “Be Safe” note on the back and he finds it just before surviving a deadly blast of enemy fire which takes the lives of some of his friends. He returns home to live with his sister but he suffers for a time from post-war trauma and so hits the road in search of the beautiful girl in the photo (Taylor Schilling). He finds her (Her name is Beth) and she mistakes him as an applicant for a job on the ranch which she helps run. He is hired by her grandmother and she finds herself attracted to him. But she has an ex-husband who is jealous and makes life difficult for both Logan and her as well as for her son.

Unfortunately the strong language and a sex scene prevent us from awarding the movie our Dove “Family-Approved” Seal.