Ruined by Miscasting

Rating: 5/10 (23 September 2008)

The story was mediocre. Don't rush out and buy it on DVD unless you're a guy who is totally hot for Rachel McAdams, who is stand-out beautiful in the film. What bothered me was the the obvious miscasting. James Garner plays an old Ryan Gosling and Gina Rowlands an old Rachel McAdams. Come on! What was director Nick Cassavetes thinking? I know exactly what; find his mother, Gina Rowlands a role. Had he gone with make-up for Ryan and Rachel, it would have been a far, far better. It just struck me as unbelievable, especially Garner's pairing with Gosling. They look about as much alike as Queen Elizabeth and President George. The problem was, though, that while in a book, the true identities of the ancients can be masked, seeing them, make-up or not, would have given the plot away on film. I had no problem accepting the old woman in Titanic as a rundown version of Kate Winslet. But this was too much of a stretch. Remember Saving Private Ryan, how good a job they did making Matt Damon not only look old, but make him look like an old Tom Hanks? Another fouled movie was Norma Jean and Marilyn, where Ashley Judd and Mira Sorvino both play Marilyn Monroe, which drew a big, "Huh?" from me.
I also found the present-day aspects of this film way too depressing. I get the undying husbandly love and all, but to go from alluring to Alzheimer's in one fell swoop was just unnecessarily cruel. In book form it's one thing. We can conceive of people growing old, their minds wandering off into oblivion, but the fantasy seemed to have gotten mixed in with reality TV. And their deciding to die together all at once without any medical aids stretched all credibility.
One last comment about the outfit Rachel McAdams wore when she revisited Noah, a white dress with red trim, red hat, red earrings, red gloves. Two thumbs up for costume designer, Karyn Wagner! She had Rachel dressed to the nines, which, by the way, was not my rating for this film.