The Notebook (2004)

The Notebook is one of those rare romance films that sticks with you long after the credits roll. Whether you're watching it for the first time or the tenth, it delivers an emotional punch that few romantic dramas can match.🔹 Story & Characters:At its core, it’s a deeply emotional love story between Noah and Allie — two people from different worlds brought together by passion and fate. The film weaves between the past and present beautifully, showing how enduring true love can be, even through heartbreak, war, and time.🔹 Acting:Ryan Gosling and Rachel McAdams have undeniable chemistry. Their performances feel natural, raw, and completely believable. James Garner and Gena Rowlands bring an extra emotional weight to the story as the older couple, and their scenes quietly steal the show.🔹 Cinematography & Setting:The southern 1940s setting is visually stunning — from the rowboat scenes to the old country homes. The soundtrack also complements the mood perfectly without being overpowering.🔹 Pros:Emotional and beautifully toldStrong performances across the boardEvokes both nostalgia and tearsA love story that feels earned, not forced🔹 Cons:Some might find it slow in parts or overly sentimentalIf you’re not into emotional dramas, this may not be your thing🔹 Final Thoughts:The Notebook isn’t just a love story — it’s a story about memories, devotion, and the kind of connection that transcends time. Even if romance isn’t usually your genre, this film is worth watching for its sincerity alone. Just... have tissues nearby.

Every once in a while, a movie comes along that should be schmaltzy and beneath you, but ends up being a totally, surprisingly, guilty pleasure (I WILL review Titanic one of these days, when I get up the nerve). The Notebook is my very wonderful, totally guilty pleasure. I will also make a case for it being possibly the movie of a generation and possibly a movie headed to becoming a classic in film.To go over the story once again at this point, would be boringly redundant. I'm doing this review many years after its release. But as I was going through my recommendations for ratings, I stopped here and decided it was time to give this beautiful movie its due.First of all, I am not a fan of Nicholas Sparks' books. No offense intended here because opinions are all relative and I know he has a huge fan following. I have read several of his books and have found them to be just a bit too simple and in need of a grammar lesson for me. The movies made from many of his books are worse and maybe eventually I will review one of them. But it is so much more fun, for me, to give the good reviews. I never read the book this movie is based on, so this review is strictly on the movie as it stands.The Notebook, as a story, is brilliant. From the moment it starts with Duke, played with a heartbreaking sensitivity I'm not sure I've ever seen from the wonderful James Garner, wandering around in his nursing home, smiling at his friends and joking with the staff. It's a little confusing because we aren't let in on the depth of his suffering and the center of the story yet. *SPOILER ALERT* There will be spoiler alerts from here on out, but if you haven't seen or read this yet, get out from under your rock AND DO SO! I think the beauty of this movie starts at the beginning because we love Duke immediately. There is no building of a relationship. It just is. We also learn pretty much right out the door that his beloved wife also lives in the nursing home with him, but in another room because she is in the end stages of Alzheimer's Disease, the 5th largest killer of the world's population. That this movie shows explicitly the horror and agony of Alzheimer's for both the caretaker/lifetime partner, and the family surrounding them is an incredible bit of public service very necessary and appreciated by those touched by this evil disease. However, the beauty of this story is that at the center of it, is a love story so powerful, so touching, and, as we learn, so surprising, that the disease, while an evil villain, is only a facet of the story.For me, the movie starts when the story becomes about Noah Calhoun, played by Ryan Gosling in, to me, one of his best acting parts (and I've seen too many of his movies), who meets the young and beautiful Allie, played by Rachel McAdams in, to me, one of HER best acting parts. Their romance is wonderful, fun, funny, lighthearted, everything most women dream about who want love, have loved, or have love in their lives. The love story isn't atypical of most love stories written and acted for centuries. But this one is touching in its portrayal of the depth and breadth of its intensity. Most love stories today, include a plethora of sex scenes to punctuate the depth of feeling. This story doesn't need it. It is implied as well as portrayed, but manages to show decades of love as a reality and not a fantasy. We do learn, of course, that this is the life love story of Duke and his beloved Allie, but not right away. And I think that lag is a brilliant part of the story woven here that attracted me and so many people.The Notebook is as beautiful in story as a breathtaking painting is to those who gaze upon it. Each stroke is carefully placed, each color chosen to accentuate what are the most important aspects the artist wants portrayed. From the moment The Notebook opens to the closing scene, I cannot find one stroke out of place. One color that doesn't blend in perfectly with the scenery on the canvas.I am a person who does not like sad endings to any story. But in The Notebook, once again, the portrait of the relationship between Duke and his Allie is perfect. No other ending would do. Yes, it is sad. But as a painting can also be excruciating in it's honesty and painfulness, so, too, is the ending of this movie.The Notebook is simply not just a love story. Love stories abound in the world of fiction told in many shapes and forms. I have to make a little observation here that today, we see the proliferation of what is called erotic romance. Fantasy romance. Supernatural romance. And while I am not normally a fan of romance books, preferring thrillers and a good mystery, there are few stories today that can compare with The Notebook. I believe it will enter the realm of a classic romance along with the Bronte sisters who wrote so few books, but each one was like a portrait described above. These stories are rare and beautiful and are meant to expand our hearts and souls. They are meant not to titillate to read and be forgotten within minutes, but to savor for a lifetime. I haven't seen The Notebook in at least 7 years and yet, what I have written has been from memory. A book, a movie, a portrait that stays with you, that you will remember for a lifetime. I would encourage all of you to watch this movie, even the men here, if you have not already done so. It wouldn't hurt to watch or read Jane Eyre or Wuthering Heights as well. For those who might not understand why these stories resonate - all of them - even today, it wouldn't hurt you to do some research. While contemporary romance is exciting and sexual, I doubt they will hold up for centuries. I believe The Notebook, as movie or book, will be around far longer and will stand up with Jane Eyre and Wuthering Heights as a beautiful portrait does, for many, many years. DO please watch this movie and keep your mind and especially your heart open because beauty, while being in the eye of the beholder, can move even the hardest of hearts.

I LOVE LOVE LOVE THIS MOVIE! Being a movie I was raised on, I had to share this movie with my daughter. I could not for the life of me find it on any apps so I found it on Amazon prime! Thank you for having the movie available. It was a cry fest! But she will remember this movie for her lifetime.

Hadn't seen this movie in years. Good movie, worth the watch. Good storyline and acting.

Great movie !!!!