Wow, I was surprised!!!

Rating: 10/10 (14 April 2006)

Back when THE NOTEBOOK was just a book written by author Nicholas Sparks (I almost always get him confused with Nicholas Evans)I heard critics saying things. They weren't really mean. They weren't even snarky. They were kind of playfully saying that Sparks and his work were "unabashedly sentimental". I tuned into the movie starring Ryan Gosling, Rachel McAdams, James Garner and Gena Rowlands last night, expecting a mediocre, and very sentimental romantic drama full of hearts and flowers and moosh.
Boy I was surprised at how much I enjoyed this film!!! It was very romantic, full of sentiment and sweetness, but it wasn't full of fake mooshy slobbery sentiment. It felt real. Even the end, which I won't reveal, in all its heavy emotion and absolution, felt real, not overly sentimental. I'm certain some felt it was trying to paint a picture of flawless, perfect love, but in fact, their love and relationship was flawed and in need of nurturing just like anyone elses'.
The performances of Gosling and McAdams as the young 1940s couple were terrific, but the heart and soul of the film are Garner and Rowlands as a present day pair of friends in a nursing home for people with Altzheimers. All the heartbreak of this affliction and how it destroys memories was compelling. The real meaning of love and commitment in married life and how you stay with your mate through good times and horrible times was beautifully realized here, as one party reads to another from a sacred story notebook in hopes of resurrecting precious memories, even if the disease snatches them back over and over.
I plan to read the book soon. Sometimes sentimentality is good.