The Notebook from a Guys Perspective

Rating: 9/10 (29 June 2004)

So you know where this is coming from: I'm a white collar, educated type who lives the basics of beer and (American) football as well as good wine and Shakespere... on the lower cusp of middle age, who spends more time listening to ESPN Radio and playing softball, volleyball, and (in the) gym than parked in front of the TV or nose in a book (although I always have a couple of books in progress). That should do...
Having not read Sparks book (and I acknowledge that the book is always better than the movie) I can honestly say that I would NEVER have seen this movie if not dragged there by my other half. Sparks is her favorite author, and the Notebook, apparently, her favorite novel of the many he has spawned. Nor is this the first Sparks adaptation I have been forced to watch... even the supreme talent of one of my favorite actors (and human beings) Paul Newman could not save the awful Message In Bottle (Costner's horrible acting does a lot to cancel Newman's effect). I digress...
I have often been a fan of framed stories. When well done, it can add complexity and mystery to a flat subject like the basic romance, which as a guy, I have felt like I have been exposed to the same awful tripe 100 times too many (see any movie with J. Lo. in it ). Sparks and Cassevetes accomplish this, heightening your curiosity and raising a level of suspense not found in most tearjerkers. Without the frame, The Notebook would have been boring and predictable. With the talent of James Garner (who I would give a nod to for Best Supporting Actor for his work in this film) narrating the reading of the inner story and acting the frame, everything changes. I was thoroughly engaged in the timeline from here to there and back, cared about the characters, and despite my manliest effort, could not fight back the tears in the end. Even the tough looking African American marine sitting next to me was wiping at his eyes during Garner's incredibly powerful scene with Rowlands as she recovers her memory for a few moments before falling back into the abyss of (Alzheimer's?).
And of course, the ending, which I understand was changed substantially from the book... there was not a dry eye in the sold out theater. Only a goofy sob from a female member of the crowd was able to change the moment enough for me to wipe away the tears and have a chuckle.
If I can find the time, which I doubt, I may pluck the book off a the shelf at home and give it a try. I recommend any movie to others that has enough of an effect on me to still be thinking about it 24 hours later.
Guys, take your woman. She will be incredibly emotional and the movie is eminently watchable. If you have a heart at all, you will have to go to great lengths to keep the moisture from leaking out of your head.