Don't call it a 'chick flick'

Rating: 6/10 (19 September 2015)

Version I saw: UK DVD release
Actors: 6/10
Plot/script: 5/10
Photography/visual style: 6/10
Music/score: 7/10
Overall: 6/10
I don't believe in 'chick flicks'. I find the term incredibly patronising to women. I believe that a good movie can appeal to anyone, and a bad film should not be just excused.
On the face of it, though, The Notebook is exactly the kind of film to which people might apply the label. It's a period romance, based on a book by the formulaic author Nicholas Sparks. Ryan Gosling is the main character Noah, a laconic salt-of-the-earth manual labourer type, and Rachel McAdams is the girl from the upper classes of the American south, with whom he falls in love. The story, set in the 1930s and 40s, also has a framing device in the modern day, featuring the two of them as pensioners in a retirement home, played by Gena Rowlands and James Garner.
The performances are all decent or better, although McAdams was a tad too smiley for me, slightly undermining the worst of her misfortunes. In particular, Gosling is very good at the strong but silent character, internalizing his emotions so he seems dumb to the other characters, while still making his feelings clear to the audience.
The whole is far from perfect - the filming is capable but largely mediocre, the portrayal of dementia is fundamentally different to that experienced by real elderly people, and when it comes down to it, it is all so clichéd that it ends up totally predictable, sapping some of the drama - but one must be wary of being over-critical. Despite what I said above, I found myself looking for reasons not to like The Notebook, because it felt like the kind of film I should not like, as a bloke.
There is actually a fair amount to like. As I said, the acting is all solid, McAdams and Gosling make a nice couple I can root for, and the clichés are at least arranged and assembled in a seamless way with good narrative flow. There are even a couple of really nice photographic touches: the opening sequence has lovely art direction, and there are some World War II scenes that are handsomely mounted. The setting also provides a welcome opportunity for some great swing jazz.
The fact is that I enjoyed it, in an unchallenging, easy-watching kind of way. What's wrong with that?