A wonderful movie

Rating: Null/10 (22 May 2015)

It took me a decade or so to catch up with this 2004 film, by which time its two young stars had carved out impressive careers: Ryan Gosling with leading roles like "Drive", "The Ides Of March" and "The Place Beyond The Pines" and Rachel McAdams with appearances in "The Time Traveler's Wife", "Midnight In Paris" and "About Time". In this early work of theirs, you can see why because Gosling as Noah and McAdams as Allie are utterly convincing as two immensely attractive young people crazily in love with one another in spite of the differences in class and personality.
The tale is told through the notebook of the title which, many years later, is read by Duke (James Garner) to a fellow inmate of his nursing home (Gena Rowlands) who is suffering from very serious dementia. It is a powerful story taken from the novel by Nicholas Sparks and ably crafted by director Nick Cassavetes, the son of Gena Rowlands and film director John Cassavetes. Some may find it sentimental, even manipulative, but ultimately all art manipulates our emotions and I simply loved "The Notebook".