The greatest love story... EVER!

Rating: 10/10 (22 February 2005)

I saw this movie twice in theaters and three more times when it came out, I absolutely love this movie with all my heart! I think it is the greatest love story of all time because it is so human, and so heart-felt. It's one of those deliciously well-written and well-acted movies that make you laugh and cry and think and feel so many emotions all at once. I loved the story-line and the plot, and I think it has to be said that there was not a single "bad actor" in this entire movie- my boyfriend agrees and he's very picky about his movies. I laughed when Finn asks, "Do you two love each other?" the night they go to the movies and dance in the street, I laughed when elderly Allie comments about how many pills Noah takes, "How sick are you?" I loved the down-to-earth fun that young Noah and Allie had, like riding their bikes with friends and swimming in the river. I think it's the kind of romance, even if it is fleeting, that we all want to experience. It made me so mad the way Allie's parents reacted to Noah just because he was from the "wrong side of the tracks" (so to speak). I bawled when Finn died, I bawled when they broke up (I wanted to kill both of them for breaking up when it was so obvious that they were in love, but I knew what Noah meant, and what prompted it, when he said that fancy things and nice things weren't in the cards for him, he wanted what was best for her and he didn't think that he was it), I bawled when Noah's father died (He was the jolliest person in the movie, I love Sam Sheperd's character!), I bawled when Allie left Seabrook, I bawled when her mother wouldn't give her the letters, I cried during the entire movie. I laughed at the story of how Noah used to stammer and poetry was the only thing that worked. I also loved how the movie reveals so much about the characters but leaves just enough for you to wonder about, like for example, does Allie's mother really understand her feelings for Noah? does she regret what she did? does she really only want what's best for her daughter or is she trying to prove a nasty point by showing Allie the man she almost ran off with, who's still in Seabrook and still labors for pennies a day? Or how about Martha? Does she understand, does she feel happy for Noah? Is Allie jealous that this is the woman her man has been spending the past seven years with? Sometimes it was just so aggravating, like Allie going back to talk to Lon after the few wonderful days she spent with Noah. But it just added to the story and made it that much more real. I thought for sure that Allie was going to be hit by that truck when she was leaving Noah, and that's why she couldn't remember, and when Allie said that she knew she should be with Lon and it went to the scene of elderly Noah closing the book I was outraged because I thought that Allie stayed with Lon (because in the nursing home they called him Duke. I finally realized that it was for Allie's sake, so she wouldn't get worked up with him being there because she couldn't really remember who he was). I think everyone can relate to this movie, whether it's because they've loved someone so much or lost someone, or for the lucky few who have actually experienced that kind of passion like in the movie. I think the acting really sealed this movie as the best in years (in my opinion), even though we all know it's just a story the way the actors present what their character is feeling is so moving, like the night in the mansion, the look in Allie's eyes as they are undressing in front of one another and the way she says that she's OK after she won't shut up and Noah asks. Her swig of beer after learning that the room they are eating in now is the one they were in seven years ago. All around this movie is great, I love it! I can't think of one bad thing to say about it, and everyone should see it!