Somewhere In Time

Rating: Null/10 (15 September 2005)

James Garner plays a contemporary older man who reads a story from a diary, in an effort to reach out to an elderly lady, played by Gena Rowlands. She likes listening to the story, (told in the film via flashbacks), a 1940's romance between a young country hick with a heart of gold, Noah, played by Ryan Gosling, and an attractive, but confused, young woman, Allie, played by Rachel McAdams. Allie lives with her rich parents. Noah lives with his poverty-ridden father. Naturally, the love affair encounters complications, including opposition from Allie's snobbish parents. Where this romance leads is the basis for the film's plot. "The Notebook" will appeal to viewers who enjoy low-key, sentimental love stories. In what it sets out to accomplish, the film does a fairly good job.
But the fact that so much of the plot centers on the two young lovers renders a somewhat unsatisfying result when the actors playing those two parts botch their roles. Rachel McAdams overacts. Ryan Gosling underacts ... stunningly. Indeed, throughout most of the film, Gosling, mumbling his lines, seems to be "out to lunch". Further, for a rural kid from South Carolina, Gosling's Southern accent was way too subtle. On the other hand, Gena Rowlands gives a marvelous performance, as does Joan Allen, who plays Allie's mother.
The film manipulates viewer emotions. But I suppose that is to be expected in a love story. The final twelve minutes really tug at your heart strings.
"The Notebook" is a well-intentioned film about the chasm that separates youth from old age. And, I applaud any film, this one included, set in a contemporary nursing home. Although the plot is a little too predictable for my taste, and although the acting is highly variable, the film is a welcome, low-key alternative to Hollywood's usual preoccupation with monsters, gore, car chases, micro-burst flashes, explosions, and general residuum.