Runtime: 118 minutes Genre: Romantic Year: 2004 Language: English Country: USA Director: Nick Cassavetes Writer: Nicholas Sparks
Actors: Ryan Gossling as Noah Calhoum Rachel Mcadams as Allie Hamilton (young) Gena Rowlands as Allie Hamilton (old) Joan Allen as Anne Hamilton
The story
The story starts with an old man reading a story to an old woman from about the same age. They are both in a caring home. While he's reading the story, the woman says the story sounds familiar. The movie continues with the man reading this story and takes us back around 50 years to a small town where we meet Noah. Noah is a boy that falls in love with a girl, Allie. From that moment he is determent to do everything in his power to meet with this Allie. After a few crazy stunts Allie promises him to go on to a date with him.
From that date she also falls in love with him and from that moment they are inseparable. They have the best summer of their lives, but as the summer is coming to an end, Allie soon has to leave Noah. Allie is just here for the summer in her family's estate, while Noah is a poor employer who has to stay behind. After Noah met the parents of Allie, Allie's parents don't think Noah is good for him, and in an argument Allie's mother calls him trash. Noah realize that Allie has to leave and go to university so that she can have a better life then staying with him and decide to break off the relation. Allie doesn't agree with this and they end in a big fight.
The next day Allie wakes up and sees her mother packing all their stuff and wants' to leave as soon as possible. Allie tries to go say goodbye to Noah, but she can't find him. From that day Noah writes to Allie every day for a whole year waiting for an answer, but never gets an answer. Allie waits every day to hear from him, but never does and decides to move on from her life. After a few years she falls in love with another man that asks her to marry him, she says yes. While she is planning her wedding she sees the picture of Noah in the newspaper and decides to go back to meet him to see how he's doing and if there is still that love between them that she's still thinking off.
Characters:
The young Noah Calhoun is played by Ryan Gosling. He's working at the local wood factory. He's about 17 years old and living with his father. From the moment he met Allie his whole live is about Allie and can't let her go. When the war starts he decides to join with his best friend Fin.
The young Allie Hamilton, played by Rachel Mcadams is about 17 years old and brought up in a wealthy family. She spends the summer in their family house in Seabrook where she meets Noah. She doesn't fall for Noah straight away, but he wins her heart eventually. After the summer she goes to university and decides to volunteer as a nurse when the war starts. There she meets a wounded soldier and falls in love with him.
Anne Hamilton, played by Joan Allen is the mother of Allie. She's the typical rich American woman who founds Noah not good enough for her daughter and does everything to prevent Allie to be with him. But she's not that innocent as she looks like and in the end she has more in comment with Allie then you would think.
Extras
On the DVD there are a few extras: Audiocommentary from the director. Audio commentary from the writer. Alternative ending. 12 delted scenes. Documentary about the actors. Search from the right location. Documentary about the writer. Look behind the scenes.
Own Opinion:
The notebook is a real romantic movie that you have to love. The impossible love between a girl and a boy separate by being rich and poor. A movie stands or falls by their main characters and they couldn't have chosen any better than Ryan and Rachel. They are perfect together and have a real chemistry between them. You are being pulled into this movie and their story and will feel with them their pain and join. I'm not the biggest fan of romantic movies, but I really loved this one.
How helpful would this review be to a person making a buying decision? Rating guidelines
Production Year: 2000 - Drama - Director: Giuseppe Tornatore - Original Language: Italian - Classification: 15 years and over - Starring: Monica Bellucci, Giuseppe Sulfaro, Luciano Federico, Matilde Piana
I'm sorry for the H, but for this to be a full DVD review, I would prefer to see a review of the extras in the same detail as your review of the film, not just a passing mention of them.
Advantages: Great acting, makes you cry (c'mon it's good to cry), good weepy ending. Disadvantages: Clicheed and unrealistic - You feel like you've seen it all before.
Renza 17.01.2009 (17.01.2009)
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Review of The Notebook (DVD)
Dec 27th, 2008
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