overall, solid film.

Rating: 8/10 (14 June 2004)

Hello,
I got a chance to see the new Ryan Gosling film, 'The Notebook' directed by Nick Cassavetes (John Q) Saturday night during its sneak preview this weekend. The theatre was sold out, which shocked me because I hadn't really seen it being plugged too much but the trailer for the film was really good and had me wanting to see it so I can understand why. And I'm willing to bet it's a big hit with the older crowd. They were in full-force.
Anyways, on to the film (spoilers ahead). It's a simple movie based off the novel by Nicholas Sparks (I haven't read it if it makes a difference). It begins with James Garner and Gena Rowlands and Garner reading to her from his notebook at a nursing home. He tells the story of Noah (Ryan Gosling) and Allie (Rachel McAdams) and how they fall in love one summer. This all begins at the carnival where Noah first meets Allie and how he MUST have her. Of course, they fall in love and they spend the entire summer together. But, this wouldn't be a drama if there were not a few plot twits. Namely, its Allies mother played by Joan Allen. After she is late one night and the cops are called out to search for her, she arrives home and gets in to a nice argument with her parents about Noah. He's trashnot for herblah, blah, blah. Noah then decides that maybe it should be over since she is leaving for New York for school soon and that is it. But before she leaves, she gets a chance to tell Noah's friend that she loves him. Noah then decides to write her everyday for a year and of course Allies mother keeps the letters from her. Three years go by, Noah's been to the war and Allies now engaged to Lon (James Marsdan) and the drama continues. There's another part of the story about Noah fulfilling his dream of rebuilding this home that takes place early in the film and after he actually does, he gets his picture in the paper. She see's it and comes to visit him. Sparks fly once again and they fall in love once more. That's the main part of the film and the 'twist' is revealed fairly early on but if you can't see it before thenor after watching the traileryou need to get checked out. It's fairly obvious. As for the good and bad
First, the good. The cast is great, especially Sam Shepard. While he is only in the film like five or so minutes, he is one of the more memorable characters in the film. He had some funny dialogue and the crowd really enjoyed it when he was on camera. Ryan Gosling and Rachel Mcadams were also very good in their roles and Joan Allen did a good job as the "villain' and she has a great scene with McAdams late in the film dealing with her lost-love and her current husband. It gives her a little more depth. James Marsdan was good as her fiancé but of course, no one wanted to root for him because Gosling just came off as a better guy. As for the older Noah and Allie, James Garner does a good job, especially later in the film when he is able to show more emotion but I did have a problem with Gena Rowlands, but I'll discuss that in the bad. Basically, the entire film fits into the good column. The script was enjoyable and strayed away from a typical 'magical' ending and the dialogue was fine. But there's always some critique
The bad mostly consists of two things. First off, some of the scenes were just too darn long and/or not needed. For instance, there is a scene where Allie and Noah dance in the street after they really hit it off and it drags for about two minutes too long. And after the story is told and completed, when we finish the film with Garner and Rowlands, some of it drags on a bit too long like Noah's third heart attack. It probably could have been deleted. My other beef was some of the scenes of Garner reading the story ruined moments in the film. A scene would be moving along nicely then be ruined because we have to go back to Noah getting interrupted because Allie needs to take medicine or go take a nap. It happened a couple times that really took away from some scenes. As for ending itself, the last shot of the film of Noah and Allie in bed together is a great way to end it properly. Nothing magical or fake happens which I really enjoyed. There's not much bad I can say about the film minus a couple small issues.
Overall, judging from the reaction from the crowd afterwards, this should be a semi-big hit. The audience was sniffling and sobbing so much at the very end of it all and it was weird because I had never seen a film where people cried this much. You would have thought we were watching 'Schindlers List'. But I do recommend it. Aside from some minor problems with certain scenes and some parts of the ending, it was a solid film and I hope it does well.
My grade: 4 / 5