The Notebook (2004)

VERDICT:
6/10 Good Boyfriend Points

About as good as anything by Nick Sparks is ever gonna get.

The Notebook is about two old fogies in a nursing home, one of whom has dementia and doesn’t even know who she is, the other being sharp as a tack and fit as a whistle. In the hopes to get this gal’s memory cells fired up again, gramps begins reading her a story about a rich Southern belle who falls for a blue collar boy from the bayou over the course of one Summer whose love is put to the test as her parents do everything in their power to put a stop to all this socioeconomic inbreeding. Turns out that the story’s about 600 pages long and it takes pops all day to read it, but since he’s the nicest stranger in the world, he keeps on truckin’ like the trooper he is so that this lovely lady can find out how these two kooky kids wind up sucking face in the rain.

Yup, it’s a chick flick, no surprise there, but when you consider that Nick Sparks is also the guy behind Message in a Bottle, Dear John, The Last Song and a couple other menopausal/teeny bopper sobfests that I hope I never have to watch, The Notebook is actually at the top of the heap. Not to say that this is good enough to warrant what seems like every girl on Earth to have heart palpitations every time this turns up on TBS, but it has its saving graces.

The most notable of these being the cast.

To be honest, I have no idea how the producers pulled together the cast that they did for this one, because there are some big timers here. Bringing James Garner, Joan Allen, Sam Shepard and Gena Rowlands (one of my all-time favs) into one space doesn’t happen every day, folks, and they’re all pretty good in their respective roles. And even though Mean Girls came out that same year and it wasn’t until Half Nelson that I fell in love with the guy, this was a pretty big stepping stone for Rachel McAdams and Ryan Gosling. She’s good as Allie, she’s very graceful in the role, and he’s good as Noah, and he grows a kickass beard to boot.

Those two made a good couple, got me into their story more than I probably should have.

But as far as everything else is concerned, eh, it’s pretty standard tearjerky stuff. Nick Cassavetes (son of the great John Cassavetes) films it with the beauty of a Lifetime motion picture event, Sparks’ script is out to make us all cry by writing the same the story he always writes and don’t be surprised if every plot prediction you’ve already thought up by looking at that poster comes true two hours later. The good thing is that for all these flaws, it’s not overly-corny to the point where all is lost, but then again, a lot of the credit goes to the cast on that one.

Look, The Notebook really isn’t my thing, but it still ain’t bad thanks to a decent story that’s elevated by a better cast, and there’s also that whole bro crush on Ryan Gosling I’ve got going on. There are far better chick flicks out there and there are far better stories to be told, but, fellas, there are far worse things to be subjected to on movie night and, who knows, you might just like it. Just be grateful you’re not watching Nights in Rodanthe.

And, ladies…enjoy.