A film starring a pop star who can out-Britney Britney was never going to be a racy affair.

The squeaky-clean A Walk To Remember stars a 16-year-old Mandy Moore as high-school outcast Jamie, the drab daughter of the reverend in a North Carolina port town.

Heart-throb Landon (West) is one of the in-crowd but he's bored and restless and ends up in hot water after tricking a new kid into a daredevil initiation rite.

It, of course, goes horribly wrong, leaving the boy in hospital and Landon on community service - a fate worse than prison, as far as he's concerned.

Punishment is to tutor a young student and take the lead in the school play and a somewhat humbled Landon is forced to ask pious Jamie (a volunteer in both) for help.

She agrees - on the proviso Landon doesn't fall in love with her, something he scoffs at but which takes place with speedy inevitability, to the derision of his mates.

Jamie lives by a wishlist - befriend someone you don't like; be in two places at once; get a tattoo; witness a miracle.

As bad boy Landon finds his halo, he helps her fulfil her dreams - but there¿s a dark secret Jamie can't bring herself to tell him, which is going to rip their relationship apart.

This is syrupy, schmaltzy stuff ("I don¿t know whether I'm drunk but if this is love, pour me another glass") but it's also sweet and sincere, if a little too earnest.

It's a film of two halves - think a mix of Footloose and Freddie Prinze Jr's She's All That to kick off, with a teen weepy finale.

Only the most hardened cynic will fail to happily choke back a tear or two, while adolescent girls will be completely in their element.

Suzanne Locke