well made traditional romance

Rating: 7/10 (14 June 2014)

In a nursing home, Duke (James Garner) reads a romantic story to an old lady (Gena Rowlands) with dementia. The story starts at a carnival in 1940. Noah Calhoun (Ryan Gosling) meets young heiress Allie Hamilton (Rachel McAdams) spending the summer in Seabrook. Noah won't take no for an answer. She eventually let her guard down and spends the summer with the lumber yard worker. Her parents do not approve but let the summer fling go on. Near the end of the summer, they visit an abandoned house called The Windsor Plantation. They are interrupted by Fin (Kevin Connolly) who tells them that her parents had sent out the police for them. He wants to let her go, they fight, and break up. While attending Sarah Lawrence College, Allie's mother (Joan Allen) kept all of Noah's letters. Noah goes to enlist to fight in WWII and Allie volunteers as a nurse. She meets wounded soldier wealthy Lon Hammond Jr (James Marsden). Noah decides to rebuild the plantation house hoping that Allie will return to him.
Nicholas Sparks has made a living writing these melodramatic romances. This one has slightly more depth. First there is the power of the Rowlands Garner pairing to give it weight. Their performances keep this grounded and show what real acting is. They are so good that even cheesy dialog sounds great. But what makes this movie stand out is the chemistry between Ryan Gosling and Rachel McAdams. These are two charismatic personalities and they put a lot of energy into their characters. Gosling has the mischievous cool while McAdams has the adorable spirit. I love that they fight harder than most sappy love story. The fighting generates so much passion. Rowlands' son Nick Cassavetes is directing and he does a good job. The fact that James Marsden isn't playing a douche allowed more believable chemistry between Lon and Allie. I like that the choices aren't laid out as good and evil.
I don't particularly like that Noah saw Allie and Lon together. It's too coincidental. It's one of many things in this that is too written. Why 365 letters? Couldn't he write one more? It's another cheesy poetic turns that Sparks like so much. Overall, this is a traditional romance done very well staring two very photogenic big personalities.