26 February 2005

Movie review: The Notebook

The Notebook is an idealistic story about first love, young love, and true love (if such a concept really exists). Noah is a working class boy who works at a lumber yard. Allie is a well-educated girl from an old money Southern family. One summer vacation, Allie's family stays in Noah's town. Noah spots Allie at a carnival and wins her heart with a little persistence. They proceed to fall madly in love with each other, but the romance breaks up because 1) Allie's parents disapprove and because 2) Allie goes off to a women's college. I won't give away the rest of the story, but will merely say that true love triumphs in the end.

I'm a bit of a romantic, but even I had trouble sometimes giving way to the utter optimism and sappiness at some parts. I did enjoy the chemistry between the actor playing Noah (Ryan Gosling) and the actress playing Allie (Rachel McAdams). They made the true love aspect of the story believable. According to the commentary on the movie DVD, Ryan Gosling is an outstanding actor but he is more well-known for intense, dark, brooding roles. Maybe that is why I liked his character; he seemed serious and self-assured but young and ardent at the same time.

Overall, the Notebook is an average movie for average circumstances, a good movie for a date, and a delightful movie for the hopeless romantic.

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