If you're a bird, I'll give you the bird.

Rating: 1/10 (15 October 2014)

You know that movie that everyone swoons over and you're like the only person who can't stand it and can't understand why so many like it? *sighs* Yeah, this is it. The Notebook—Nicholas Sparks' most notorious story, which reached out to many people and couples. This movie is talked about by almost every single couple I know. And honestlyI don't get why so many people like this movie. I thought this was HORRIBLE!
Alright, here's the story. In the 1940's, Noah, played by Ryan Gosling and Allie, played by Rachel McAdams fall in love over the summer, but there's one little problem: The guy's poor and the girl is rich. Yeah, sound familiar (Titanic, Dirty Dancing)? Oh, don't worry; there'll be other clichés along the way. The girl's parents aren't okay with this and the two are separated. World War II happens and the two eventually reconcile after seven years, but things have changed. Allie is now engaged to another guy, who is actually really supportive. So now that Allie has found Noah again, she is now torn between her old flame and her fiancé.
So what's the problem? The romance is SO manipulative. For example, how does Noah get Allie's attention at the beginning? He hangs off a Ferris wheel and asks her to date him or he'll let go. Yeah! Suicide! That was the answer to everything! That's right, men! If you want to get the girl of your dreams to go out with you, just threaten to kill yourself in front of her! Yeah, you might die, but hey! Doesn't backfire! And the dialogue between them is SO damn corny and SO cheesy and SO clichéd, it makes me wonder, why should I care about these two after seeing a setup that has been overdone countless other times? And even after he threatens to commit suicide in front of her, they see each other again and they strike up a conversation. Cos that's how women would react, right? She's not at all freaked out by this?! And another thing about it is that they talk and—I'm not kidding here—They're together in literally the next scene as a couple. Just like that. Yeah, it's that rushed.
And wouldn't you know it? The fights between these are so forced and half the time, they don't even make sense! After the fight from her parents, he breaks up with her and she's like "get out of here! I don't want to see you again! I hate you!" no, wait come back!". What?!? Does she have multiple personality disorder?! And the second fight near the end is forced. It's written in just to make the movie seem more "dramatic" or a way of saying "ooh, they're so hurt". And the line "I'm not afraid to hurt your feelings". Did a guy who says that he loves her so much really just say that? "Oh, well he's just saying that because he's not afraid to tell her when she's being unfair". Okay, fine. But can you word that a little better?! To me, it sounds like he doesn't care about how she feels! And keep in mind; this is when she is forced to decide who she'll stay with. The fiancée is at least calm towards this and states that he'll never force her into this! The rich guy, who the movie wants you to be against, is the more believable choice!
Ugh. I'm sorry, but this movie really ticked me off to see how forced and manipulative the romance is and yet it surprises me to see that so many people really love this movie and how emotionally invested they are in it. Never once did this grip me. I couldn't care less about these people except for the rich guy Allie's engaged to. I couldn't care about the couple, I couldn't care about her problems, I couldn't care about anything!
Romance is written in a way for us to relate and hope that the main characters should come out okay in the end after so many hardships. It should be about a real couple, who go through relatable and realistic problems, which act as obstacles. Just show a couple trying to fight their way through hard times and not use these clichés over and over again. Either way, I know a lot of people like this, but as for me, this was god-awful and I will try to stay away from it as much as Allie should have stayed away from Noah to begin with.