The War on Terror gets as close as it's ever come to the realm of romantic comedy this Friday with Dear John, based on the Nicholas Sparks novel from 2006. Channing Tatum stars as a U.S. soldier who falls for a college co-ed. Despite writing often and promising to think of each other fondly while on opposite continents, the young couple faces almost constant challenges, including his father's Asperger's Syndrome and 9/11. One-time Mean Girl and Mamma Mia! singer Amanda Seyfried continues her march to the A-list in her first leading role as an adult in this love story fans of Sparks' The Notebook ought to recognize and relish. Richard Jenkins and Henry Thomas co-star. Rated PG-13. (Image courtesy Screen Gems)

Based on a story by master French director Luc Besson, From Paris with Love is a Training Day-style crime thriller about a low-level CIA operative who quickly finds himself in over his head. Jonathan Rhys Meyers plays an aide to the U.S. Ambassador in France while moonlighting for the CIA. When he's given his first major assignment, a partnership with a jaded veteran agent played by John Travolta is the hefty price tag. Travolta leads Meyers on a rollercoaster ride through the crime and drug-filled Parisian underworld in hopes of stopping an alleged terrorist attack. While doing what he can to keep up, Meyers must also figure out if his unreliable new mentor is trustworthy or just as crooked as the men he's trying to stop. Rated R.