Exclusive: three weeks before release, reshoots changed the ending of the hit romance “Dear John,” the surprise hit romance that opened over the weekend, might not have been as big a hit if it had the original ending.
The experimental treatment that John’s donation allows him to afford grants him a few additional months of life, but eventually, Tim dies. Before his death, he says that he is thankful his son Alan will now have someone (Savannah) to look after him. Read More: Is Dear John a True Story?
‘Dear John’ is a 2010 romantic drama that follows the story of a soldier and a college student who fall in love but are kept apart by the serviceman’s repeated deployments.
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Why Does John Sell His Father’s Coin Collection?
However, the whole story is subtly revealed after that. The anonymous donation that Tim receives to get his experimental cancer treatment is actually from John. In a heartwrenching and selfless move, John sells his father’s prized coin collection to prolong the life of the man who married the woman John loves. Considering everything, this is a particularly big-hearted gesture.
When he hints that he might, Savannah is saddened, and the two have an argument. Soon after John is redeployed, he receives a letter from her, saying that she must leave him and is engaged to another man.
Sometime after his marriage to Savannah, Tim is diagnosed with terminal cancer. The experimental treatment that John’s donation allows him to afford grants him a few additional months of life, but eventually, Tim dies. Before his death, he says that he is thankful his son Alan will now have someone (Savannah) to look after him.
John and Savannah continue to meet and soon fall in love. They decide to stay in touch once John is deployed, as he plans on completing his service in 12 months and then settling down. However, on the day before Savannah has to leave to go back to college, she mentions that John’s father might be on the autism spectrum, which angers him and causes him to get into a fight in which Tim inadvertently gets injured.
Also, the fact that he cares about the coin collection is brought out when John insists to the buyer that the “Mule” collection, which actually started John and his father’s coin collection hobby, must never be broken up and should always stay entirely with one person. He also keeps the first “Mule” he ever found, which we see him tossing while on duty in an active war zone.
John receives two bullets in his shoulder and sees his life flash before his eyes in the film’s opening scene. He also thinks about Savannah just before passing out. However, we see him recovering in a hospital in Germany later in the film, telling us that he does, in fact, survive. Despite his repeated postings in war zones after getting shot, the film closes with John and Savannah hugging, telling us definitively that the Special Forces soldier is alive.
What happened to John and the two lovers after 9/11?
After 9/11, John decides to reinlist, and the story follows their love over his prolonged absence. The original ending followed the book more faithfully — and the two lovers (spoiler alert) were not united.
The sad ending bothered the executives behind the film at Relativity Media, who argued with director Lasse Hallstrom and producers Marty Bowen and Wyck Godfrey that audiences would want to see the couple have a chance at being together, according to two executives on the film.
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