Heartbreaking and uplifting at the same time.

Rating: Null/10 (11 February 2005)

We have this older man, Duke (James Garner at his best) who comes to a nursing home daily with a notebook. He seeks out this pretty older woman (Gena Rowlands) and reads to her from the notebook. She likes the story, she looks forward to hearing what happens next in the lives of Noah (Ryan Gosling) and Allie (Rachel McAdams). The main of the movie is set in the 1940s, as we see Noah and Allie meeting one summer in South Carolina, then the triumphs and disappointments of their relationship over the next 7 years. Fine movie-making, fine acting, a good story. The DVD picture and sound are first-rate, the making-of extras interesting.
MAJOR SPOILERS FOLLOW. We figure out mid-way through the running time that Duke is really Noah in old age, and the lady he reads to is Allie, suffering dementia. Most of the time she doesn't know who he is, and doesn't recognize their children when they visit. They plead with dad to "come back home", but he says "She is my home", so much was his love for her. He was reading from the notebook she wrote of their romance back in the 1940s, with the inscription, "Read this to me and I will come back." He never knew when, but after reading to her for a while she would "come back", she would recognize him, they would share a few minutes, before she reverted. The doctors thought it impossible.
In 1940 Noah, from a poor upbringing, worked at the local saw mill. Allie was vacationing for the summer with her wealthy family, who expected her to go to college in New York and marry a wealthy young man. When the summer fling did not end promptly, Allie was taken home, Noah knew of the disapproval of the parents. They parted, he wrote every day for one year, but received no answers. Allie's mom had hidden all the letters. Noah moved to Atlanta, war broke out, he served and fought, made it home safely. Meanwhile Allie in college volunteered in a VA hospital, caring for the wounded, where she met her eventual fiancée.
Noah's dad sold the family home, gave Noah the money so he could buy and renovate the old mansion by the water that he and Allie had dreamed 7 years earlier of living and growing old in. Going to Charleston to get permits, he sees Allie on the street, finds her in a restaurant, but leaves unseen when she meets and kisses her fiancée. Noah goes back to work on the old home while Allie and her mom prepare for the wedding.
With Noah still in her mind, she makes a last-minute trip back and finds him, the house was complete, even the room for painting that she had requested. He told her he did it all because he had promised it to her. Mom shows up, she shows him a laborer who, 25 years earlier, she had been in love with, suggesting that maybe she regretted marrying for security. Allie decides to go with her heart, she and Noah get married, and all that brings us back to the nursing home almost 60 years later.
While heartbreaking, the ending is also uplifting. After suffering his third "minor" heart attack in a few months, Duke returns to Allie's bed, she recognizes him, wonders if they can "go together." He lies down next to her, they hold hands, and are found that way the next morning, having been taken to their reward during the night. Many may find that overly sappy, but to me it is the perfect ending to a lifetime love affair.