After popular high school student Landon Carter (Shane West) gets busted for drinking on school property and pulling a prank that nearly killed another student, he’s given a choice.  He can either be expelled or he can tutor other students and take part in the school play.  At both tutoring and play rehearsals, he gets to know Jamie Sullivan (Mandy Moore), the daughter of the local reverend (Peter Coyote).  Even though Jamie doesn’t wear makeup and only owns one sweater, Landon falls in love with her.  Too bad she’s dying.

A Walk To Remember is a movie that I can remember walking down to the movie theater to see with my friends.  Shane West was so handsome.  Mandy Moore was so beautiful, even if she did only own one sweater.  The film taught us all that there’s nothing more romantic than falling in love when you only have a year to live.  (At least, that’s what it taught us girls.  The boys just learned that they could nearly kill someone and their only punishment would be having to appear in a school play.)  I loved it when I first saw it and I still enjoyed it when I rewatched it yesterday, even if I now realize that it never made sense that Mandy Moore would only own one sweater.  There’s a lot about the movie that doesn’t make any sense but Shane West and Mandy Moore had that irresistible chemistry.  Early on, when Jamie warns Landon not to fall in love with her and Landon says it will never happen, that’s when everyone knows that they’re destined to be together.

The movie still made me cry, even though I now know that someone has to die in every Nicholas Sparks story.  Getting married right out of high school makes sense when one of you is going to be dead before college reopens for the fall.  Did Landon ever remarry?  He better not have.  I will never forget A Walk To Remember.