A Walk to Remember, the schmaltzy Nicholas Sparks adaptation starring Mandy Moore and her IRL crush Shane West as star-crossed high-school lovers, is one of the most beloved movies from the 2000s. Given the resurgence of early-aughts culture, the movie has been experiencing a bit of a social-media renaissance. (For the record, should a modern-day remake ever be made, Moore wants fellow pop icon Olivia Rodrigo cast.)
One Instagram user, comedian Rob Anderson, is delighting his followers with his hilarious reaction video to the 2002 romance:
Anderson has a whole video series where he reacts to all sorts of '90s and '00s curios, including old episodes of The WB drama 7th Heaven, Julia Roberts rom-coms like Runaway Bride, and the extensive Mary-Kate and Ashley Olsen movie franchise. Most of the comedian's clips delve into how ludicrous or downright silly these throwback titles seem looking back, and his takedown of A Walk to Remember is no exception.
The content creator sums up the premise for his 830,000 followers: Bad boy Landon Carter (played by Shane West) is forced to star in the school musical as punishment for hazing another student. Good-girl Jamie Sullivan (Moore)—who is "dying on the DL" from leukemia—is the other lead in the show, and opposites very much start attracting. As he explains:
Anderson's good-natured quips about the romantic movie caught the attention of one of the movie's main actors: Shane West himself, who took to the comments to praise the "hysterical" video:
Anderson continued to poke fun at the movie's melodramatic moments, which include teenage Landon and Jamie getting married before she can succumb to her illness. Rob jokes of their wedding:
Mandy Moore hasn't yet put in her two cents about Anderon's rip-roaring review, but the actress-singer seemingly has nothing but fond memories of filming the teen drama and has said that its resurgence in popularity has "flattered" her. She recently told USA Today:
If, like Rob Anderson, you haven't rewatched A Walk to Remember in the two decades since it was first released, you can revisit the movie in all of its lovely, ridiculous schmaltziness with a Netflix subscription.