Dear John (2010) John Tyree, Staff Sargeant, United States
Army Special Forces, is shot in Afghanistan.
In a voiceover, he asks somebody if they know, what is the first thing that came to his mind;
coins.
John is eight years old again, and he recalls his tour of the US Mint.
He is listening intently to the guide explain how coins are made.
He compares himself to a coin in the United States Army.
The other soldiers desperately try to keep him conscious, while his consciousness drifts
to the imperfect coins.
Just like them, he now has two holes in him, rendering him imperfect.
He then tells someone, that the last thing that entered his mind before he blacked out
was "you."
It is the spring of 2001, in Charleston, South Carolina.
John is enjoying his summer on a beach, surfing in the ocean.
Once he is done, John is standing on the boardwalk, when a group of young people catches his attention.
Among them is Savannah Curtis.
The group walks to the edge of the boardwalk, and one of the guys accidentally knocks off
Savannah's purse into the sea.
Savannah whines as the guy run to retrieve it.
John witnesses all this, and without a second thought, jumps into the ocean.
Very swiftly, he retrieves the bag and swims back to the shore.
Savannah and the others run up to him, and Savannah thanks him after introducing herself.
John wishes they have a comfortable stay, and turns to the other side to leave.
He takes a few steps before turning back and walking in their direction.
He clarifies that he isn't stalking them; he forgot his board.
Savannah invites him to her house, which is nearby, for barbeque.
John politely tries to decline, but Savannah is persistent.
John finally gives in and walks with Savannah.
John sits with one of Savannah's friends Randy.
Randy asks John if he is in the military.
John replies in the affirmative, rattling Randy, but he hides it with his bad humor.
Savannah soon joins them.
She hands John a bottle of beer, and sits beside him.
Randy excuses himself, and Savannah apologizes for his behavior.
They are talking when Alan hugs Savannah from behind.
She introduces Alan to John, and soon Alan's dad Tim joins them.
They talk a little before Tim bids them goodbye.
Surprisingly Alan says 'hello' to John as he leaves.
Savannah says Alan never talks to anybody other than his family.
Alan is an autistic kid, and Tim and Alan are Savannah's neighbors.
Savannah has known Alan since he was born, and because of this, she is an exception adored
by Alan.
They enjoy gazing at the moon, and try cooking hotdogs over the fire, which turns out to
be a disaster.
John takes this opportunity and asks Savannah for a date the next day.
Savannah agrees to meet him for dinner.
John gets excited but keeps his cool, only to stumble upon some rocks around the bonfire.
He walks back, limping and carrying his board.
Soon Tim comes by riding his truck.
He is taking Alan for an ice cream, and offers John a ride.
John contemplates a little before hopping on the truck.
Tim tells John about his wife taking a solo trip, as taking a trip together is difficult
for the parents with Alan.
John gets down near his house, but before he can leave, Tim delivers the most polite
threat, if he ever hurts Savannah.
Since he knows Savannah's dad, he feels responsible for letting the man interested in her know,
what her father would have said.
John arrives home and finds his dad intently studying his coins as usual.
He leaves him be.
The next day, Savannah takes John to Bowens Island Restaurant.
John is reluctant, but Savannah insists.
As they enter, the owner of the restaurant, Steve, approaches John rudely, and tells him
he doesn't want any trouble there.
John tries to placate him and promises to cause no problem.
Savannah asks him about what happened earlier, but John says nothing and changes the topic.
She is curious about John's dad, and asks many questions about him before announcing
that she wants to meet him that night.
John takes Savannah home.
He warns her about his dad not being much of a talker, but everything changes once she
shows interest in his numismatics.
With newfound enthusiasm, Mr. Tyree tells her the story behind each coin he owns.
It is late when John drops Savannah home.
She tells John not to be so hard on his dad, as he loves him, even if he cannot see it.
Savannah wishes him goodnight after promising to meet him again.
After not seeing Savannah for the entire day, John meets her in the evening.
He asks her where she has been lately, and she says she has been busy.
She takes him to a place where she and other young people are building a home for a family
who lost their home in the hurricane.
John cannot believe what a wonderful woman Savannah is, with no possible vices.
Savannah disagrees but in John's eyes, she is perfect.
It suddenly starts raining, and the two take shelter under a board.
They talk a little before they let their feelings for each other ride their emotions, and share
an intimate moment.
They begin dating and enjoy every day together.
John will be going back soon.
On their last day together, Savannah feels sad, because the next day, she will be leaving
for college, and John will leave for twelve months.
John wraps his arms around her and assures her that everything will be fine.
He promises to return to her as soon as he is relieved.
While walking back, John says he might return before she finishes school.
But Savannah thinks it is going to be a while.
She has decided to study education for people with special needs.
She mentions Mr. Tyree's difficulty in social interaction.
John gets upset when she equates his dad with Alan, and storms off.
Randy gaslights John, making him furious, and they get into a fight.
Randy is no match for John.
John, still frantic, knocks Randy's friend down, who is there to stop them.
Tim comes to intervene, but gets elbowed on the nose.
Savannah rushes to the scene, flabbergasted at John's aggressive display of emotions.
John doesn't say anything and leaves.
Savannah apologizes to Tim as she tends to his injuries.
John feels guilty for last night, so he goes to meet Savannah before she leaves for college.
But she is not home.
Tim comes to greet John, and when John sees Tim's broken nose, he apologizes.
In his rage, he didn't recognize that it was Tim trying to stop him.
Tim forgives him, partially taking the blame, as he realized nothing good have come by sneaking
up behind an army personnel.
He jokes about looking tough with the injury.
John asks Tim if he can relay a message to Savannah, and Tim gives John a paper to write
the message down.
John comes back home, and keeps back the extra plate from the table.
It was just going to be John and his dad having breakfast.
They are almost done eating, when John hears a car pull over.
He rushes outside and hugs Savannah, who had come to meet him after getting the note from
him.
John apologizes for everything that happened.
Savannah apologizes too, for what she had said about his dad.
She didn't know what she was saying.
They both reconcile, and she hands him a note to read after she is gone.
The note talks about how it took only two weeks for them to fall in love, and now this
one year apart is nothing compared to the time they shared together, or the memories
they created.
They promise to write and tell each other everything.
Savannah has tears in her eyes, as she drives off, looking one last time at the love of
her life.
It is time for John to leave.
His dad comes to drop him off at the bus station.
Once back, John writes to Savannah as promised; even when he is deployed on a mission, he
asks her to be patient as his letters may take time to reach her.
For the next few months, John and Savannah continue their relationship via letters, telling
each other everything that is happening in their lives.
They try to live with each other vicariously.
In one of the letters, Savannah mentions meeting Alan after a long time, which rekindled her
idea of opening a summer camp for autistic kids.
She had come to her parents' farmhouse, and seeing alan interact with one of the horses
gave her the idea of using the animals and outdoor space, so the kids can enjoy themselves
like the other kids.
John is supportive of the idea.
Savannah tells him that she visited his dad since it was her last day home, before she
went back to college.
Mr. Tyree and Savannah had a long conversation about coins, and Mr. Tyree showed her his
favorite coin, 'Seventy-eight Jefferson Mule.'
But he didn't disclose the story behind the coin.
So Savannah, in her next letter to John, asks John, 'What's the story?'
John writes her the story; When he was seven years old, he went to buy himself an ice cream.
Along with the pennies, he got a coin that he didn't recognize.
He took it to his dad, but he couldn't recognize it either.
They took it to an artifact dealer, who told them it was a mule, an error coin.
He offered $20 for it, but Mr. Tyree was not easy to fool.
He took the coin and went to another dealer who told them the mule was worth $4000.
He advised Mr. Tyree to keep it and pass it on to his son.
In some years, its worth would be much more than $4000.
After that incident, Mr. Tyree became obsessed with them.
All they talked about was coins.
Eventually, they stopped talking about that too.
John is excited to meet Savannah after his discharge, which is nearing.
They have a whole life planned ahead of them.
But fate had some other plans.
The September 11 attack occurred.
John held a solemn expression when he saw the news.
He knew what that meant.
The senior official gave them two days time to think about the extension of their deployment.
Even though it was an eighteen-hour journey, he decided to go back to Charleston to meet
Savannah.
Their union at the airport is a moment worth capturing.
They decide to introduce their parents to each other at the party Savannah's parents
are throwing.
Mr. Tyree has prepared his classic meatloaf to take to the party.
As they are driving, Mr. Tyree has a meltdown, and he asks to go back.
They take Mr. Tyree home, and he tells them to go without him.
At the party, John meets Randy, and Randy apologizes for starting on the wrong foot.
John also meets Tim.
Once alone, John shares his story and how he waited for his mother for fifteen years,
because his dad couldn't bring himself to tell him that his mother was gone.
This he speaks in reference to Alan's mom, who has left them, and Tim tries to cover
it up by saying she is on a trip.
Savannah's parents are impressed by John.
The topic of discussion, however, remains the attack.
It is during the conversation, Savannah gets to know that John has decided to take an extension.
Savannah is angry and storms off.
John finds her sitting alone on a bench.
She tells him to go away, but John doesn't know how to quit.
He is confused, because he wants to spend his life with Savannah, but he also wants
to serve his country.
He is in a social and ethical conflict, and doesn't know what the right thing to do is.
Savannah understands his dilemma and asks him to come with her.
The emotions, and the fact that they will not see each other for two years, make them
want to give in, and so they get intimate.
Savannah goes to see John off at the airport.
He is surprised to see his dad there to wish him the best.
They continue their long-distance relationship through letters.
But not being able to see each other started taking a toll on them.
As difficult as it may get, Savannah couldn't take it anymore.
She couldn't pretend that everything was going well, when clearly it wasn't.
As a result, she stopped writing to John, and all John could do was wait.
After a long wait of two months, John finally receives a letter from Savannah, but it is
not what he anticipated.
Savannah has broken up with him.
She writes that she has found someone else, and they are now engaged.
Enraged and finding it pointless to keep all her letters, John burns them all, wondering
what could have gone wrong.
Even though Savannah hasn't disclosed who the guy is, he has an idea who it could be.
One day while patrolling, an Afghani man comes running to their jeep, and tries to tell them
something.
But they don't understand him because of the language barrier.
John takes the decision to move forward and check the place.
He, along with his comrade, make their way, carefully looking for the enemy, when his
comrade gets shot.
John pulls him to safety and assesses the damage.
The bulletproof vest saves his friend.
But John isn't so lucky.
Suddenly two shots are fired at him, wounding him severely.
John wakes up to find himself in a hospital in Germany.
After three months of painful recovery, John re-enlists himself.
John insists on making it his career.
And just like that, four more years pass.
The year is 2007.
John is sent home because his dad suffered a stroke.
Once again, John stands in front of his bedridden father.
His eyes well up with the thought that he could have made a difference if he were at
home, after the doctor told him, he was found unconscious after a considerable amount of
time had passed.
John goes back home and looks around, unable to control his emotions.
He sits at his father's table and looks at his coins.
He finds the lucky mule, and decides to pen down his feelings.
After freshening up, he goes to the hospital, and finds his dad has been removed from the
room.
John gives his dad the letter he wrote him, but decides to read it anyway.
We're taken back to the first scene.
The voiceover was him reading his letter to his dad.
And he recalls when he was shot, the first thing that came to his mind was 'coins', and
the last thing that came to his mind was 'you.'
He cries as he reads the letter, feeling guilty for all those times he was not with his dad
when he needed him.
His dad tries to comfort his son, by placing his hand on his son's face and pulling him
closer.
John rests his head on his dad's chest, as he cries his heart out.
Mr. Terry passes away, leaving John devastated.
Finally, John thinks he is ready to see Savannah.
He goes to meet her but is surprised to see, she has given up on her dream of opening a
summer camp.
John tells her the reason he has come home.
She invites him in for tea.
While they're talking, her phone rings, and she excuses herself to attend the call.
Meanwhile, John looks at the pictures on the wall, and is surprised to find that she married
Tim.
She tells him that Tim has cancer.
She gave up on her dream so that she can take care of Tim.
She takes John to see him in the hospital.
John asks her what kind of cancer it is, and she tells him it's Lymphoma.
At the hospital, Alan is with his dad, Tim.
While Savannah buys Alan some cake, John sits with Tim.
Tim apologizes to him for everything that happened, while he was so far away.
He is relieved to know that Alan is in good hands now.
He also tells John that Savannah still loves him.
He wishes it was not the case, but Savannah has never looked at him as she has looked
at John.
So he knows.
Savannah and John come back home.
Alan runs to meet the horses as soon as he gets down the car.
While still seated in the car, Savannah shares that she feels helpless.
She wants to bring Tim back home from the hospital.
There is a company in Texas with an experimental drug; she wants to get Tim treated with it.
But it is too expensive.
Her parents sold the beach house; they tried fundraisers but ran out of money for the treatment.
Savannah asks John to stay for dinner.
During dinner, they have a moment, and John asks her what he has been meaning to for such
a long time.
He asks her why she didn't call him and give him an explanation for her decision.
Savannah finally reveals that she couldn't bring herself to do it, because hearing his
voice would have made her change her mind.
She further explains, that Tim was sick, and he needed somebody to take care of Alan.
Savannah was all alone and didn't really know what to do.
As Savannah breaks down, explaining herself, John takes her in his embrace.
After they reconcile, Savannah shows him all his letters she has saved.
John accidentally drops water on her, and she goes to the bathroom to change.
John gets a glimpse of her changing, and she sees him looking her way.
They both feel the sudden rush of emotions, but neither of them acts on it.
John, with tears in his eyes, bids Savannah goodbye.
Savannah cries too, seeing the love of her life go away from her, probably forever.
John makes a big decision to sell his father's coin collection.
He sells all but the lucky mule, and keeps it as a good luck charm.
The money he got from the sale, he donates it for Tim's treatment.
Back on duty, John receives a letter from Savannah.
She tells him that right after he left, they received an anonymous donation, which was
enough to start Tim's treatment.
But after Tim came back home, Savannah could only spend two months with him before he passed
away.
She talks about how time always runs, be it the two weeks she spent with John or Tim's
last two months with her.
Regardless of everything, she is hopeful that she'll see him again one day.
John is a civilian now.
He is walking down the street, when his eyes lock Savannah's, who is sitting in a cafe.
After a long time, they smile and greet each other with a warm hug.