The connection between the two narratives is supposed to be a big, heartbreaking surprise, though I figured it out well in advance and spent the interim unfavorably comparing this greatest-generation hanky wringer to the British drama Iris.
The Notebook
Behind every great love is a great story.
2004 · 2h 3m · PG-13
Drama, Romance
Directed by
Nick Cassavetes
Overview
An epic love story centered around an older man who reads aloud to a woman with Alzheimer's. From a faded notebook, the old man's words bring to life the story about a couple who is separated by World War II, and is then passionately reunited, seven years later, after they have taken different paths.
Director and cast
- Nick Cassavetes Director
- Rachel McAdams as Allie Hamilton
- Ryan Gosling as Noah Calhoun
- Gena Rowlands as Allie Calhoun
- James Garner as Duke
- Sam Shepard as Frank Calhoun
- Joan Allen as Anne Hamilton
- James Marsden as Lon Hammond Jr.
- David Thornton as John Hamilton
- Kevin Connolly as Fin
- Starletta DuPois as Nurse Esther
Critics on Rotten Tomatoes
Top critics, in their words
How rare to see a film that says there is still a value system out there, that being thoughtful and caring is not uncool.
The movie not only approaches a level of shamelessness you have to see to disbelieve, it does it in a manner that's both inept and crass.
May be one hundred percent sap, but its spirit is anything but cloying, thanks to persuasive performances, most notably from Rachel McAdams.
This is a movie that isn't ashamed to wring each teardrop by any means necessary.
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