One can only hoped to be loved that much.

Rating: 8/10 (16 August 2008)

To me as good as any love story. A perfect cast. The lovers, Noah and Allie (McAdams and Gosling) passionate for each other, supported by impressive parents, Noah's father, Sam Shepard, who plays a simple country man, happy with his son and his life; and Allie's mother, Joan Allen, a wealthy southern lady who wants better for her daughter than Noah. The story teller, Duke (James Garner) reading from "The Notebook" to Mrs. Calhoun in the retirement home, played by Director Nick Cassavetes' mother, Gena Rowlands who has memory problems.
As complicated as it sounds watching it is easy. The cuts from the past to present are well done. We all understand at different points in the movie that Mrs. Calhoun is married to Duke but does not remember him, especially in the scene when their children come to visit and their mother does not know who they are leaving them hurt and wishing for their father to return home because he is missed; how will she know he is not there or feel abandoned if she doesn't even know who he is? We get to see how they fell in love, how they almost lost each other and how their love would never die; and Duke (aka Noah) believes this with all his heart. In the final scenes we learn that the "Notebook" of their love story is written by Allie herself. She wrote it upon learning she would start to forget, she wrote it for Noah to read to her so she would remember; and she does. Every once and a while Allie comes back, remembers all, and she and Noah are in love again, but it is only temporary, sometimes only a few minutes, and she not only forgets but becomes frighten of Noah, breaking his heart, literally. Noah has had a few heart attacks. The scene when she remembers and then forgets is heart breaking. James Garner and Gena Rowlands' performance is powerful and heart wrenching.
What a heart warming story. Makes you hopeful about passion and love.