Love for the characters provides real emotion to the romantic drama

Rating: 8/10 (31 May 2011)

A love story for the ages; a weepy romantic drama; a timeless love story. All the exhausted clichés apply, but "The Notebook" manages to turn them into something substantial—emotionally at least, if not intellectually. Everything in this movie is beautiful and it's easy to get wrapped up into the story.
Noah (Ryan Gosling) loves Allie (Rachel McAdams). That's basically the entire story, but conflicts arise when Allie's parents insist he's not good enough for her, and Noah has to spend the rest of his life winning her back. I love both Noah and Allie. Allie, because she's the type of girl that every girl can realistically see themselves as; she's emotional, but smart and passionate, and adorable in every way. And Noah, because he has this boyish charm that he never loses. Gosling has this incredible ability to play men at any and every point in their lives.
Because the characters are just so captivating, the story is able to invoke emotion. You'll fall in love when they do, you'll be heart-broken when they are, and you'll cry when they do. "The Notebook" is beautifully shot, beautifully told, and most importantly, beautifully acted. And it's for those reasons that it is able to rise above the rather tired and painfully predictable plot. You won't even notice that because you'll be crying and falling in love.