This screening had a Q&A with the writer Nicholas Sparks, and the two leads Josh Duhamel and Julianne Hough after the movie ended.

I knew this movie was a chick flick, and knowing Nicholas Sparks' penchant for making me bucket tears, I was prepared for a heart wrenching experience.  Mr. Sparks delivered.  Luckily Maymay remembered to grab a huge handful of napkins, so I didn't have to wipe my tears away with my sweater.  Overall, I really liked the movie.  Josh Duhamel is adorable, but I got over that and genuinely cared about his character.  He made me want to move to a small town TODAY and find my Alex.  Julianne Hough played aloof beautifully, and I think she did a terrific job. She made me want to see her and Alex get together, and thankfully they kept it playful and romantic.  Mimi Kirkland, who played Lexie, was the star of the movie.  She was adorable, sarcastic, considerate and had the proper eye-rolling at dad technique.  I adored her.

Now the bad.  I don't want to give anything away, but the end made me want to walk up to Nicholas Sparks and kick him in the shin.  Not only did I master my eye-rolling technique, but my groan was so loud the incredibly kind young man sitting next to me burst out laughing at me.  I badly want to explain, but also want you to experience the "WHAT THE $@#% WAS THAT ABOUT" moment that occurs.  Maymay didn't understand the ending at all, and no amount of explaining made it any clearer to her.

You should see this movie and bring tissues. The soft kind.  You will use them and don't want to chap your nose with the cheap ones.  If the end doesn't make you want to scream bad things, you have a better imagination than I do....and I think I'm a stormtrooper.

Generally I look up information about a movie BEFORE I see it.  Not this time.  I went to this screening completely in the dark about everything other than the fact Hawkeye was Hansel.  Truthfully, I only agreed to see this movie because Hawkeye was Hansel.  

As we waited for the movie to begin, some of my fellow screeners started asking me questions about the movie.  I'm not sure if I just looked like I knew what was going on, or if it was because I was emitting some sort of movie prowess.  Either way, that's when I found out the movie already had a reputation of being gory, violent, scary and a tiny bit badass.  Needless to say, I was concerned that Maymay would not be happy.

There were gory, violent, scare the crap outta me moments, but overall the movie was truly badass.  It also has laugh out loud moments and the writers definitely speak fluent sarcasm. 

There was nothing after the credits, so no need to wait around.  Overall the movie not only kept the attention of this stormtrooper, but also the autistic kiddo and her bear LOVED it.