To say no more, the plot does not offer any unusual twists. A popular high school senior, Landon Carter (Shane West), becomes involved in a prank that nearly results in the drowning of one of his classmates (Matt Lutz). As punishment for his transgressions, Landon is required to tutor underprivileged students and is consigned to participate in the school's spring play so that he will, as the school principal puts it, "meet some new people." When Landon has trouble learning his lines, he turns for help to the minister's daughter, Jamie Sullivan (Mandy Moore), who is also in the play. She is a nice, smart girl with a strong sense of herself. Gradually he is changed by her and they fall in love. The rest of the story can be seen coming a mile down the road, but in this case that is no bad thing.

This movie works not because it is a "teen movie" with attractive stars, though it is that. Nor because its plot is original. After all, "Romeo and Juliet" was not particularly original even when Shakespear first wrote it. Rather, it works because it takes its characters and its themes seriously. In contrast to the dreary normal run of such films, this movie can reach both a younger and an older audience because it suggests the power of love, decency and compassion, even when such qualities cannot prevail over life's grimmer realities. It does not pretend that, in the end, good will win out and that everybody will live happily ever after. Rather, it suggests - at times loudly to be sure - that it is possible for people to grow and be better than what they are in spite of their own shortcomings, and that examples of honesty and integrity can matter. At a time when cynicism masquerades as sophistication, this is a theme worth touching upon.

Better still, notwithstanding the fairly standard plot, the characters in "A Walk to Remember" are rather surprisingly not unidimensional. To be certain, they are a fairly nice group, but they are not stick figures, either. Jamie is spiritual and even religious, but when Landon asks how she persuaded her father to let her go out, she replies that she told him the truth, but that "I just left you out of it." Clearly, this is no goodytwoshoes, a point that is reemphasized by the way she keeps her secret from Landon, and by the way that she first treats him when she finally does reveal the truth.

Similarly, the Reverend Sullivan (Peter Coyote) initially comes across as just another movie stereotyped preacher, but it turns out that his motives are more complex than simple "Bible thumping," and in the end, he proves a reasonable and compassionate man. At the same time, Landon's mother (Daryl Hannah) comes across as a well intentioned woman overcome by the responsibilities of raising her son alone. Yet she is also more forgiving of Landon's father for leaving them than is Landon himself, and is also surprisingly somewhat dubious, in a motherly way, that her son can achieve his goals.

For his part, Landon's transition from popular but aimless kid to devoted and serious boyfriend, and from there to an adult, is thoroughly believable. Indeed, in the whole movie, only Landon's best friend, Eric (Al Thompson) and his father (Robert Treveiler), seem caricatured, and this is mostly because their parts are so small. (Though it must be added that Landon's dad ultimately is in one of the movie's most poignant scenes.)

"A Walk to Remember" is also given a boost by the superb acting. Mandy Moore is thoroughly convincing as Jamie, striking a neat balance between typical teenager and what would otherwise have been an almost otherworldly character. Moore brings to her role a screen presence that is endearing and convincing without being overbearing. Peter Coyote as the Reverend Sullivan similarly manages to walk the fine line between stereotyped minister and flesh and blood human being.

However, by far and away, the best acting is Shane West as Landon. Although his character has the most growing to do throughout the movie, West manages to bridge the changes without seeming to play two different characters. Particularly riveting is the scene when Landon begins to notice Jamie while she sings her solo in the school play. Landon's face does not simply skip to a look of infatuation or adoration. Rather, he manages to look both smitten and uncertain, suddenly confused by feelings that he thought he could not have for this girl. West manages to convey these feelings all without saying a word and in only a few relatively short close-up shots. His work here approaches near brilliance and suggests that this young actor may well be capable of playing even more demanding roles.

There is no doubt that "A Walk to Remember" has its weaknesses. Yet these are not significant in a movie that works hard and that takes its values seriously without reducing them to either caricature or ridicule.

One critic has said that "A Walk to Remember" is good only because it takes its spiritual component seriously. Only? This is a movie that manages to tell a meaningful story without suffering in credibility or resorting to preachiness. If nothing else, "A Walk to Remember" is an antidote to the idea that the only good movies are the ones where the heroes throw bombs.