| THE NOTEBOOK |
 2004 – USADirector: Nick Cassavetes
- Reviewed by Jennifer
The Notebook chronicles the love affair of Allie (Rachel McAdams) and Noah (Ryan Gosling), who begin a summer romance as teenagers. It soon becomes apparent that it's true love, but Allie comes from a family of means who expect her to attend college and marry well. Noah makes forty cents an hour working at the lumberyard, so her parents put an end to their summer fling. Sam Shepard is lovely, kind, and funny as Noah's dad. If you've never read any of Sam's short stories, it's hard to appreciate just how cool this man is, but he's a rock star in my book and brings merit to any film he's in. What kind of idiots wouldn't want their daughter to marry his son? Joan Allen and her mustachioed rich-boy husband, that's who. After Allie goes home, Noah writes her a letter every day FOR A YEAR, and that bag Joan Allen intercepts them all, just like Mister in The Color Purple. Is there a more insidious deception than hiding correspondence? And why does the culprit always tuck the letters away in a tidy bundle? If I ever turn evil and start stealing somebody's mail, I'm going to rip it up and burn it, not pull it out ten years later and say, "Oh, by the way, these came for you." Just wondering if Noah and Allie would ever get together nearly ate me alive. Well are they together now? Will they get together tomorrow? What about next week? When? It was the movie-viewing equivalent to a little kid kicking the back of the driver's seat and asking, "Are we there yet?" I couldn't help rooting for two people who were actually passionate about their own lives. I'm sick and tired of spoiled, emotionally stunted people who can't communicate being pawned off as sophisticated and complex. Oh gag me! They just need therapy. I watched the new version of Shall We Dance? the night before I watched The Notebook and nearly put a boot through my TV. Oh come on Richard, just tell your wife about the dance lessons. And get over yourself J. Lo, not everybody wants to sleep with you and your stained suede coat. But I digress, Allie and Noah do get together, and aren't afraid to admit that they've found a good thing. When Allie becomes senile, and Noah converts their dream house into a nursing home, I was inclined to say, "Awww," instead of "What the hell?" to this nonsensical turn of events. Gena Rowlands and James Garner (whom I've loved since the little seen film Tank) play Allie and Noah in their later years, and do so with amazing dignity and good humor. The Notebook may be a sappy love story, but it pushes all the right buttons. It is full of gauzy sunsets and pretty white ducks, making it romantic in appearance as well as content. I warned my family ahead of time that this was bound to be a slushpot Hallmark Hall of Fame caliber film, but somehow it won us over on its own merit. [Read Linda's "this movie was a piece of crap" review of The Notebook.] |
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Watching The Notebook was almost more than I could stand. I had a
feeling it was my kind of movie, but I've come to expect anything written
by Nicholas Sparks to be cheesier than cheddar. A Walk To Remember was
about as compelling as an episode of Seventh Heaven, and Message In A
Bottle was too boring for words. But this... this left me in a useless,
sniveling heap of tears. My face was actually coated in a dried-tear
mask by the end of the film.
