CONTEST WINNER
LEILA GOHEEN
Winner receives "A Walk To Remember" DVD

Contest Question:
How does "A Walk to Remember" underscore the importance of faith?

Winning entry:
In A Walk to Remember Landon says to his mother that Jamie has faith in him--consequently she makes him "want to be different...better." How true those words are. In the Old Testament the word "faith" is mentioned a mere two times, but in the New Testament it is recorded nearly 500 times. "Faith" had become equivalent with "belief." Belief in someone or something--obviously in the New Testament this belief is of/in Jesus Christ. As a youth pastor for three years, I witnessed the utter change that can occur within a person when that individual knows that someone believes in him/her--has "faith" in him/her. How "different...better" people can be. A Walk to Remember also emphasizes faith in a higher power. Jamie's life somewhat mirrors the earthly life of Christ. Her potential and what she had to offer were not realized by most people around her, only by a few close to her. And like Christ, her life seemed too short for those whose faith had just begun. A 16th century poet said, "Every saint has a past and every sinner has a future." Faith in all respects--belief in humanity, belief in a higher power, loyalty, "evidence of things we cannot yet see (Hebrews 11:1b)," the "confident assurance that what we hope for is going to happen (Hebrews 11:1a)"--transforms persons.

Directed by Adam Shankman
Screenplay by Karen Janszen
Novel by Nicholas Sparks

Shane West .... Landon Rolands Carter
Mandy Moore .... Jamie Sullivan-Carter
Peter Coyote .... Reverend Hegbert Sullivan
Daryl Hannah .... Cynthia
Lauren German .... Belinda
Clayne Crawford .... Dean
Al Thompson .... Eric Hunter
Paz de la Huerta .... Tracie
Jonathan Parks Jordan .... Walker
Matt Lutz .... Clay Gephardt
Charles E. Bailey .... Dean's Dad
Mervyn Warren .... Choir Director

Produced by
Edward McDonnell .... executive producer
Bill Johnson .... executive producer
E.K. Gaylord II .... executive producer
Casey LaScala .... executive producer
Denise Di Novi .... producer
Hunt Lowry .... producer
Matthew Mizel .... associate producer

Original music by Mervyn Warren
Cinematography by Julio Macat
Film Editing by Emma E. Hickox

MPAA: Rated PG for thematic elements, language and some sensual material.
FOR RATING REASONS, GO TO FILMRATINGS.COM, and MPAA.ORG.
PARENTS PLEASE REFER TO PARENTALGUIDE.ORG

In the prologue to his latest novel, Nicholas Sparks makes the rather presumptuous pledge "first you will smile, and then you will cry," but sure enough, he delivers the goods. With his calculated ability to throw your heart around like a yo-yo (try out his earlier Message in the Bottle or The Notebook if you really want to stick it to yourself), Sparks pulls us back to the perfect innocence of a first love.

In 1958 Landon Carter is a shallow but well-meaning teenager who spends most of his time hanging out with his friends and trying hard to ignore the impending responsibilities of adulthood. Then Landon gets roped into acting the lead in the Christmas play opposite the most renowned goody two-shoes in town: Jamie Sullivan. Against his best intentions and the taunts of his buddies, Landon finds himself falling for Jamie and learning some central lessons in life.

Like John Irving's A Prayer for Owen Meany, Sparks maintains a delicate and rarely seen balance of humor and sentiment. While the plot may not be the most original, this boy- makes-good tearjerker will certainly reel in the fans. Look for a movie starring beautiful people or, better yet, snuggle under the covers with your tissues nearby and let your inner sap run wild.
--Nancy R.E. O'Brien -Amazon.com

A Walk to Remember [SOUNDTRACK] Various Artists - Soundtracks - 2002

With Britney Spears exploring her burgeoning sexuality, at least on record and stage, Mandy Moore makes her most wholesome offering yet with A Walk to Remember. The soundtrack to this chaste love story offers several Moore tracks along with contributions by guitar-driven Christian-popsters Switchfoot. (She and Switchfoot singer Jonathan Foreman meet on a cover of New Radicals' "Someday We'll Know.") Forgoing the dance-pop that first put her in the charts, Moore sticks mostly to safe ballads that make romance sound as exciting as cleaning one's room. Only the most straitlaced of parents will find anything to protest here.
--Rickey Wright -Amazon.com

1. Cry - Mandy Moore 2. Someday We'll Know - Mandy Moore & Jonathan Foreman 3. Only Hope - Mandy Moore 4. It's Gonna Be Love - Mandy Moore 5. If You Believe - Rachel Lampa 6. Mother, We Just Can't Get Enough - New Radicals 7. Dancing In The Moonlight - Toploader 8. Learning To Breathe - Switchfoot 9. Dare You To Move - Switchfoot 10. You - Switchfoot 11. Only Hope - Switchfoot

In an era in which teen films have become a genre unto themselves, "A Walk to Remember" stands apart. More than a teenage romance, it is a love story between two people who just happen to be high school seniors. This distinction is part of the reason why the story held such appeal for producer Denise Di Novi.

"As a story being told from the point of view of teenagers," says Di Novi, in reference to the Nicholas Sparks novel on which the film is based, "it is popular not only with teenagers but with younger kids and with adults of all ages because it's a reminder of what is really important in life - unconditional love, hope and faith, things that have been proven for thousands of years to be the sustenance of human beings. I think that message is appealing to people not only in their teenage years, when they may encounter these feelings for the first time, but all throughout their lives."

"A Walk to Remember" vividly recalls the unique cultural experience that is high school, particularly in the self-segregation of students into rigidly defined social groups. In high school, more than any other time in life, you're either in or you're out. At Beaufort High, Landon Carter is definitely on the A-list and Jamie Sullivan?well, Jamie isn't even on a list.

Landon and Jamie would likely not have given each other more than a passing glance as they moved through the halls and classes of Beaufort High. They might never have met if it hadn't been for that one night and a prank gone wrong.

It was a terrible night. Landon and his pals dared a na?ve new classmate to take a dive into a murky pool at the local cement factory as an initiation into their clique. The boy was eager to please. By the time they realized the pool was not empty but full of broken and rusty pipes, it was too late. He made the jump and then floated back up with a bloody wound. Panicking, the kids took off with a rush of screeching tires - all except Landon, who lingered a moment to reassure the terrified diver and, consequently, was the only one caught.

He was lucky to avoid jail time but Landon's punishment seems worse to him than being locked up. The school principal assigns him to the tutoring program, thinking the young rebel might redeem himself by helping a struggling student from a neighboring school. He also hopes Landon might gain some maturity by leading the Beaufort High School Drama Club's class play. Performing on stage in front of his buddies will put him in the position of those they so often ridicule. But the principal cannot foresee how much these experiences might actually change Landon. He doesn't count on divine intervention in the form of Jamie Sullivan.

Jamie is already volunteering her time to the tutoring program. She is also a lead in the spring play. At first, the very fact of her participation in both activities is proof to Landon that he is being unfairly cast into the school's nerd class. Finding himself in the same social sphere as the minister's daughter, even for a few hours a week, is mortifying.

Jamie is not pleased to be sharing extracurricular time with Landon either. She takes her interests and her community service seriously and doesn't care for his cavalier attitude. Knowing about the cement factory incident that almost killed a boy, she finds Landon and his friends contemptible. Still, she has been taught to forgive and to try to find the good in all people, so she dutifully puts her personal feelings aside and does her best to assist Landon when he asks for help memorizing his lines for the play. Besides, there is just a chance - or is she imagining it? - that Landon might not be as bad as he likes to appear.

Jamie's father, seeing the boy on his doorstep one evening for a rehearsal session, is seriously concerned. Why would a kid like Landon be spending time with Jamie? Surely no good can come of it. A devoted single parent to his only child after her mother's early death, Reverend Sullivan's love for his daughter is as powerful and focused as the sermons he vigorously delivers from his pulpit Sunday mornings. It is clear that he will allow no one to hurt his little girl.

Peter Coyote, who plays the part of Reverend Sullivan, says of his character, "He's hard but fair. He measures his behavior and the conduct of others by certain standards and he's very strict about that. Of course, in today's permissive culture he just looks like an old dinosaur who's completely out of touch." More than anything else, as Coyote explains, is Reverend Sullivan's desire to protect his daughter from any harm that might come her way, and that "maybe makes him a little more severe than he would normally be."

Landon's mother, Cynthia, is also a single parent. She loves her son more than anything in the world but doesn't know much about his interests or how he's doing in school because Landon doesn't confide in her. Seeing his new acquaintance for the first time, Cynthia is curious about what it means but knows better than to question him.

Daryl Hannah, who brings Cynthia to life on screen, understands that her character "is trying to walk that fine line between friend and mother. She is a complex character herself, very conservative in some ways and yet still somewhat a hippie and a bohemian underneath. For all her honest effort and love, she's never really sure that she's been raising Landon right, especially without a father figure." Cynthia knows her son is troubled and hopes he will find his way, though she doesn't know how to help him.

Meanwhile, Landon's crowd is confused by his behavior as he spends more time with his newfound interests and less time hanging out with them. His friend Dean (played by Clayne Crawford, best known for his recurring role on "Roswell") and former girlfriend Belinda (Lauren German, of "Down to You") wonder if he's leaving them behind, despite Landon's half-hearted attempts to reassure them - and himself -- that nothing has changed. What is going on with Landon? What kind of a spell does this girl have on him? They try to bring him around every way they know, and when that doesn't work they try to hurt him by hurting Jamie with a particularly nasty trick concocted by Belinda, who still carries a torch for her former beau. But nothing they do seems to have any effect.

What ultimately happens to these two young people is not at all what the Reverend fears, nor what anyone else would have expected - least of all Landon and Jamie. They fall in love.
As Landon and Jamie get to know one another, they find themselves transformed. Each opens up a world to the other. As full as Jamie's life seems to be, with school, her volunteer activities, her amateur astronomy and helping her father maintain the household, there is something important missing. For reasons of her own, she has not allowed anyone her own age to become really close to her and especially not allowed herself to fall in love.

Landon also has something missing in his life. Sure, there are friends, and things to do on Saturday nights. He's dated a few girls and maybe even thought he was in love once or twice but nothing lasted. He has no relationship with his father, who has remarried and lives nearby. Overall, Landon has made his adjustments and lowered his expectations of life as the years passed until he cannot imagine the possibility of a future that could be any different.

With Jamie, Landon is encouraged to ask questions he has never considered before and begins to grapple with the possibility of there being a power and order in the universe beyond his understanding. When she tells him "you can do anything," he begins to believe it. As they probe the night sky together through the telescope that Landon has built for his stargazing companion, his life begins to open up before him as vast with possibility as there are lights in the darkness.
The soul, as well as the heart, is stirred.

This is a story about love but, as director Adam Shankman points out, "it's also about how faith - in ourselves and our futures -- can transform and define us and bring us truly alive. Landon comes into the story angry, lost and confused, and he lets go of all that through his love for Jamie. He attains a sense of faith - not attached to a specific religion, but through the spirit of love, through respect, forgiveness, acceptance.

"Considering the current atmosphere in our schools," Shankman continues, "the much-publicized angst and unrest, we wanted to show that there is another way to express yourself, without negativity and self-destruction."

"For me," adds Di Novi, "it's a simple story of redemption and the power of love, told from the point of view of teenagers. I think we really need to tell stories like this about teenagers - for teens and for adults. It's a positive message. I want this to be a movie that touches people and makes them look differently at the world, with more hope. If Landon hadn't met Jamie, his life would not have been what it was meant to be. And if we can give that gift to anyone who crosses our path, that's the most important thing."

It's also "a story of growth," offers author Nicholas Sparks, who wrote the best-selling novel from which the film was adapted. "When you first see Landon you think that maybe there's something else out there in the world he wants but he isn't sure how to get it. Then Jamie comes along and helps him undertake this journey. Hopefully, when people see this they'll not only be moved but will relate to it as well because all of life is a journey."
About The Production, pg 2

CLICK HERE FOR REAL VIDEO REVIEW
Review by David Bruce

ANXIOUS
Subject: A Walk to Remember
Date: Mon, 4 Feb 2002
From: Sean

Take care and have a great day, God Bless
Sean <><....

Response: Sorry for the delay. -David

Do you have any reviews or info on A Walk to Remember starring Mandy Moore in theatres now?
Thanks, Mike

Response: Sorry for the delay. -David

WALK TO REMEMBER
Subject: walk to remember
Date: Thu, 31 Jan 2002
From: "Jeremy Lewis"

I thought you guys were going to review this movie and post it on the 25, well i would love to read what you guys have found, but i just cant find it

a walk to remember?

help me out if you can

Jeremy Lewis
Youth Minister- Plymouth Park C of C

Response -Sorry for the delay. -David