A great, touching story, so make ready the tissues. Hey, it's a chick flick. The twist in the story comes out early.
Noah Calhoun (James Garner) lives in a nursing home. On most mornings he gets up and grabs his most important treasure: a notebook (hence the title).
He takes this book and reads to an old woman, (Gena Rowlands) who has Alzheimer’s. He hopes she can remember the story he is telling, but she can't... no matter how hard he tries, she can't remember... and even when she does remember, she forgets minutes later.
Anyway, the story he tells her is one of two people, a younger Noah Calhoun (Ryan Gosling) and his beautiful girlfriend, Allie Hamilton (Rachel McAdams).
They form a loving bond most people only dream of. However, Noah is a back-woods redneck hick and Allie is high society. So when the summer ends, and her parents force her to return to New York City to go to college, the pair are heart broken. The have a huge fight, and she leaves the very next day.
Noah writes to her every single day, 365 times, one whole year. She doesn't read one of his letters because her mom (Joan Allen) takes them and hides them. Noah, heartbroken, tries to get on with his life but he can't. So he does the only thing that can help him cope: he renovates his dream house that he had once promised to Allie.
Years go by before the pair finally meet again. It's then that they realize that they both still love each other, even though Allie is engaged to another man.
I saw "The Notebook" at a screening and believe me, it's a great film. There is no "Disney" style ending; both main characters DO end up living happily ever after, but not in the way one might think.
Although the story has many comic bits, the story does tug at your heartstrings towards the end of the film. There won't be a dry eye in the house. I even started to well up, but I pulled through. I over came the emotions. Hey, I’m a guy... I can't be seen crying, now can I?
Rachel McAdams, Ryan Gosling, Gena Rowlands and James Garner all give Oscar-worthy performances; you can see the pure emotion each character give in every scene.
It's an absolutely fantastic adaptation of the book. I recommend the film to everyone.
Plot:
A great, touching story, so make ready the tissues. Hey, it's a chick flick. The twist in the story comes out early.
Visual Effects 
The story doesn't need visuals, but the cinematography, which makes up for it, is superb.
Sound:
This Oscar-worthy score is very beautiful, touching and heart-warming. The music fits like a glove to the plot.
Character Development:
Atmosphere:
While this is a chick flick, some people (mainly men) will find it hard to get into unless you have an open mind to this type of film genre. The film does get easier to go along with fairly quickly.
Realism:
Typical Hollywoodism fills the better part of this drama, but don't let that take away from how good the film actually is.
Warren’s Rating:
8.14/10Is the movie worth your time to watch?
21-06-04
