A Walk to Remember

Continuing on with Top 10 Tuesdays, we're up to my ninth favorite movie of all-time.

Disclaimer: Unfortunately, writing about why certain movies move me the way they do without actually giving away the ending is not an easy task. And since none of my favorite movies are currently in theaters, I plan to talk about endings when the situation warrants it. I'll experiment with using a green font when speaking about the ending though—so if you've never seen one of these movies, but would like to after reading one of these posts, you'll know to stop reading when you see green wording.

#9: A Walk to Remember, starring Mandy Moore and Shane West. Released in 2002.

Here's a blurb about the movie from MovieWeb.com: "Based on the 1999 novel by Nicholas Sparks, which was set in the 1950s, the story is about a modern-day small-town romance in North Carolina between two teenagers: the only son of a wealthy family and the town minister's quiet daughter. When they both join the town's Christmas pageant, the unlikely pair meet and fall in love."

The post that you are about to read is adapted from an article I wrote for a website called Crosshome.com when I was their culture columnist several years ago.

Pop singer Mandy Moore plays the part of Jamie Sullivan, a young Christian woman who is dying of Leukemia. She doesn't tell anybody about her illness because she just wants to be treated like everybody else, but ironically, her classmates reject her because of her plain appearance and her Christian faith.

Enter, Landon Carter, a senior who hangs out with the in-crowd who is only concerned about having fun. After his crowd pulls a prank on a schoolmate, Landon ends up in trouble and part of his punishment is tutoring children—the same children that Jamie willingly tutors. The other part of his punishment is to play a role in the school's upcoming play, of which Jamie is also a willing participant.

While studying lines together (in secret because Landon doesn't want anybody to know), Landon begins to fall for Jamie, but he falls head over heals for her during the play as Jamie, all gussied up to play the part, sings a song that takes his breath away.

As they spend more time together, she notices that Landon is more open to listening to things that excite her than she ever imagined. He takes an interest in astronomy with her, in long walks through nature, and when she tells him about a list that she keeps of things she wants to do before her life is over, he sees a girl who wants to live life to it's fullest—a completely different lifestyle than he'd ever known.

As Landon changes, they both realize how attracted they are to each other. The problem is, Jamie hasn't told him that she's dying of Leukemia. When she finally does, instead of running away, he learns to embrace every moment to its fullest. So much so that he now knows what he must do—marry her in the church her parents were married in, and in the process fulfill her most savored wish.

The scene at the church is quite moving—even more so in the Nicholas Sparks' novel version of the story. Here's how it is described in his book (from Landon's point of view):

"My mom was in the front row, dabbing her eyes with her handkerchief when the 'Wedding March' began. The doors opened and I saw Jamie, seated in her wheelchair, a nurse by her side. With all the strength she had left, Jamie stood shakily as her father supported her. Then Jamie and Hegbert [her father] slowly made their way down the aisle, while everyone in the church sat silently in wonder. Halfway down the aisle, Jamie suddenly seemed to tire, and they stopped while she caught her breath. Her eyes closed, and for a moment I didn't think she could go on. I know that no more than ten or twelve seconds elapsed, but it seemed much longer, and finally she nodded slightly. With that, Jamie and Hegbert started moving again, and I felt my heart surge with pride.

"It was, I remembered thinking, the most difficult walk anyone ever had to make.

"In every way, a walk to remember.

"The nurse had rolled the wheelchair up front as Jamie and her father made their way toward me. When she finally reached my side, there were gasps of joy and everyone spontaneously began to clap…"

They exchanged vows, and then Landon makes this observation:

"I kissed Jamie softly as my mother began to cry, then held Jamie's hand in mine. In front of God and everyone else, I'd promised my love and devotion, in sickness and health, and I'd never felt so good about anything.

"It was, I remember, the most wonderful moment of my life."

Jamie dies soon after they are married and Landon goes to visits Jamie's father after some time has passed [I'd queue the movie to see how long it actually took, but unfortunately I've loaned out the movie and it hasn't made its way back to me yet]. He's not sad that he only got to spend a brief amount of time with the woman he loved. Instead, he's extremely thankful that he got those brief moments.

We spend so much of our lives trying to minimize risk and pain that we miss out moments like this. When in reality, nobody is guaranteed tomorrow. Or this afternoon. Or our next breath. Seeing a movie like this makes me want to be a bigger risk-taker because the next risk I take might just lead to the most wonderful moment of my life.

Previous posts in this series:

#10, In Love and War