The Notebook

Rating: 6/10 (1 October 2008)

I heard a lot about this film from the leading stars, I had a vague idea of what to expect, besides the film plot, but I knew it might be a bit of a cheesy and tear-jerking film, but that's what it makes it good. The story sees old Duke (James Garner) staying in the nursing home with Allie Calhoun (Gena Rowlands), and reading a story, from a notebook naturally, about two characters named Noah Calhoun (Half Nelson's Ryan Gosling) and Allie Hamilton (Mean Girls' Rachel McAdams). Noah was instantly besotted by Allie, but it took a while for her develop true feelings for him, but they were inseparable when she did, sure they had their disagreements, but they were crazy for each other. Unfortunately one argument becomes too much and they separate, Noah writes to Allie everyday, but her disapproving mother Anne (The Bourne Supremacy's Joan Allen) obviously stopped her getting the letters, so he gives up writing on #365 with a fair well letter. Allie has found a new love interest with Lon Hammond Jr. (X-Men's James Marsden), who the parents like a lot, and Noah meanwhile is rebuilding the old house that would have been the "dream house", not only to live in, but because he promised Allie he's finish it. Allie is to be married to Lon, but she feels like she can't go through with it until she checks up on Noah, after seeing his face in the newspaper, and he is very happy to see her. She spends a few hours there, including a boat trip across the near lake, and obviously the subject of writing to her comes up, and when she knows the truth, they kiss, and (surprisingly) she loses her virginity. They do have another argument, about the marriage, and she feels she has to go back, and you wonder if she'll come back, and thank goodness she did. Oh, and by the way, they got married and had kids, Duke and Allie are obviously them older, but the love disappeared when Allie developed memory loss, caused by dementia and Alzheimer's, and it's really sad when she does remember it, but her memory goes again, only returning in the end again, when they die together. Also starring Kevin Connolly as Fin, Home Alone 3's David Thornton as John Hamilton and Sam Shepard as Frank Calhoun. Gosling and McAdams are pretty convincing, the support from Allen is good too, it is just a good old fashioned weepy melodrama. Good!