Beautiful love story, but by no means perfect

Rating: 6/10 (4 October 2008)

After putting off watching this film for many years, I finally bought the DVD earlier this year and decided to lose my 'the Notebook virginity' and take the plunge - now I have seen this film way more many times than I care to count, and am still loving every moment of it.
The story revolves around Allie Hamilton, a fun loving, hard-working, 17 year old girl from a very rich family, who, during a summer holiday at Seabrook, falls deeply in love with Noah Calhoun, a poor boy who loves her back with all his heart. But summer romances cannot last forever and eventually Allie's mother, Anne Hamilton, decides to interfere, telling her daughter that she was not born and brought up to waste her life on trash like Noah. The family leave the next day and return to the city, and although Noah writes to Allie everyday for the next day, not one of the 365 letters reached Allie because her mum, Anne, would hide them away. Eventually, believing all is over between her and Noah, Allie falls in love with the rich, intelligent and successful Lon Hammond Jr, and agrees to marry him, but her destiny was inter wined with Noah's, and it won't let her escape that easy.
The film is a romance, but whilst that category often induces terms such as 'cheesy, soppy, predictable, clichéd' etc, 'the Notebook' breaks every one of them and gives a refreshing and different account of a story told too many times over for many, many years. The script is incredibly well written (except for a few awkward parts) considering it's genre, and the parts acted brilliant by all involved. Stand out performance must go to Rachel McAdams and Joan Allen (as Allie and her mother), although Ryan Gosling, James Marsden, David Thornton and Starletta DuPois probably all deserve a mention too.
(slight spoilers in this paragraph) One of my main faults with this film is that the Noah we see in the present time (the old Noah) is a completely different person to the Noah we see in the story. There are no similarities between the two characters, except for their undying love for Allie, and although I understand that this may be to prevent the first time viewers from guessing the ending, it also takes away from the film by making it seem far less genuine.
I do love this film, but it is by no means one of the greatest films ever made. It is a beautiful tale of love, and the film grows on you and continues to surprise you on subsequent viewings 9which really is the mark of a good film), but being in the genre of romance it is rather limited, and although a very heart-warming and sad story, it will not be one to change the face of the film industry for years to come, but instead will be a film that many will enjoy, though no one could claim it to be the greatest film ever to be made.