In 1996, the year “Independence Day” came out and Zendaya was born, then first time author Nicholas Sparks (Message In A Bottle, A Walk To Remember, Dear John) published a book called, “The Notebook.” The story is about Noah & Allie’s relationship in turmoil, due to the fact they come from different social classes struggling to move on from a gut-wrenching break-up. Nicholas’ novel sold enough copies becoming a best seller. This caught the attention of Warner Bros. (WB for short) subsidiary New Line Cinema acquiring the film rights for The Notebook. Steven Spielberg was approached to direct with Tom Cruise as Noah, but dropped out. They eventually worked on “Minority Report.” John Cassavetes’ son Nick replaced Steven. George Clooney & Paul Newman were considered to play young and older versions of Noah, but they dropped out when the former realizes he doesn’t resemble the latter in his prime. A few years later, then unknowns Ryan Gosling & Rachel McAdams won the parts for Noah & Allie while James Garner & Gena Rowlands (also Nick’s real life mother) signed on to play older versions of the pair.
The Notebook was released in 2004. (same year Code Lyoko first aired on Cartoon Network) It received mixed reviews from critics and movie goers alike. Despite divisive reactions, the film managed to recoup money at the box office. Overtime, The Notebook gained a cult following. Both Ryan Gosling & Rachel McAdams won an “MTV Movie Award” for “Best Kiss.”
With Awards Season ongoing until The Oscars air on March 2022, I wanna share my thoughts on The Notebook if it aged like fine wine or not. Ryan Gosling confirmed he will star in an upcoming reboot of “The Wolf Man.” Rachel McAdams will reprise her role as Christine Palmer in “Doctor Strange In The Multiverse Of Madness.”
This review contains a lot of SPOILERS.
Beautiful & Ugly Aspects
Beautiful: Ryan Gosling & Rachel McAdams both did a good job for their respective performances as Noah & Allie.
James Garner & Gena Rowlands both did a good job for their respective performances as older versions of Noah & Allie.
Other Cast Members such as Kevin Connolly, James Marsden, Joan Allen & Sam Shepard
Cinematography is surprisingly shot carefully.
If you’re a girl, you’ll be drooling over Ryan’s shirtless scenes.
Costume Designs reflect the time period of The 1940s.
Set Pieces were manually built by set decorators.
Noah & Allie first met on June 6th 1940. That’s the same date minus the year Aelita (from Code Lyoko) went to Lyoko on June 6th 1994. When I was a kid, I used to have a crush on Aelita besides Raven from the original “Teen Titans.”
Ugly: Nick Cassavetes (Alpha Dog, My Sister’s Keeper) did an awful job directing.
I didn’t care about Noah & Allie’s chemistry. They’re relationship is plain rubbish. They have nothing in common. All they do is nag like Larry David arguing with Susie about anything from “Curb Your Enthusiasm.”
Noah acts like a creepy stalker towards Allie by literally climbing on a Ferris Wheel. He blackmails her to go out with him by holding on to the rails. If this were real life, Allie would file a restraining order against him. You cannot be stupid accepting a weirdo’s invitation. As if an unintelligent girl instantly accepts an invitation to Buffalo Bill’s (from The Silence Of The Lambs) hideout.
After their first date, Noah & Allie immediately become a couple. Oh no not an early romance! I think it’s unrealistic for two people who barely didn’t get to know one another, somehow entered a relationship. In real life, it’ll take a week or two for a pair to flesh out their interests, hobbies and what they do for a living, until a relationship is fully established. I have no choice, but to Double Down their unrealistic chemistry.
After Noah breaks up with Allie, he still has an unhealthy obsession over her writing 365 letters a year. EGADS! If I were him, I’d move on to another woman. Thankfully he did. Unfortunately, it doesn’t last long. The more I watch, the more my brain cells die from stupidity.
Despite passionately reuniting, Noah & Allie cheat on their significant others. OH MY GOODNESS! They’re making Chucky & Tiffany as a realistic couple in “Bride Of Chucky” & “Seed Of Chucky!”
I didn’t cry over The Ending. The last movie that made me cry was Daniel Craig’s final James Bond installment was “No Time To Die.” At least it showed some emotionality.
The Final Verdict: D-
The Notebook is painful to watch. The more I watched, the more my brain cells died. Both the movie, book and all of Nicholas Sparks’ books are best described in one word, shite. As a kid, I thought The Notebook was alright. Now that I’m older, it didn’t age well. No offense, I dislike The Notebook. If you wanna watch a better romance movie, I strongly recommend “La La Land.” If a movie studio or television company is planning to adapt another book linked to Nicholas, it’s gonna be pure rubbish.
Nickthemoviecritic.com 