movie's 411

>> THE NOTEBOOK (2004)

Starring: Ryan Gosling, Rachel McAdams, James Garner, and more ...
Director: Nick Cassavettes
Genre: Romance, Drama




so here's the review of the movie that i've been talking about for the past week. just remember to bring lotsa kleenex if you're going to see this. his movie opens today (6/25) but i saw it almost two weeks ago on the free movie screening. okay let me start why i am so falling in love with this movie. to start, i wasn't expecting anything when i got in to the movie, in fact i was cynical that it was gonna be a good movie. i was reading the book halfway, but not yet finished and i was kinda concern that the movie wouldn't come out as good as the book, as it usually the case. but since it's a free screening, hey.. why not? so i went. no expectations. but when i got out, i was overwhelmed with the emotional experience from the movie. it was kinda surprising because i was never into love stories. yeah, i watch it every now and then, but usually i find it so cliche that it wouldn't really touched me. the other movies based on the novel by the same author, nicholas sparks, does not quite touched me. and to make it all worse.. even when the movie starts, i felt it was boring already with the overextended silent and cinematography. but it was all worth it. it builds that emotions inside of you and as the movie rolls.. you can't help feeling how beautiful the story is.

the movie is nick cassavetes' adaptation of the same titled book "the notebook". the book was written by novelist nicholas sparks. as i finished reading the book after the movie, i noticed there are many differences adapted from the book, but if i had to choose, i'd go with the movie version, it's more real and err.. more dramatic. i'm not exactly a big fan of a melodramatic movie like this.. but i gotta tell you, it's a good one. "the notebook" is a story about allie (rachel macadams) & noah (ryan gosling). they fell in love during the summer of 1940, when allie visited the town where noah lives with her family. by the end of the summer, they had to break off their relationship due to the objection of allie's parents. noah was just an earthy mill worker who live with his dad, while allie is coming from a rich parents whose life was already planned out for her. heartbroken and hurt, allie left the town thinking that it was over between her and noah. especially that noah never wrote to her. without her knowing, her mother had taken noah's letter in which he writes for her for a whole year, thinking that she knows best for her daughter. noah can't stop thinking about allie, but he had to stop writing after a year without reply. he then went off to war and came back to his hometown to build his dream house. allie, on the other hand, met lon. a nice guy who she fell in love with and have asked her hand in marriage. just when she thought life was good for her, she saw noah's picture on the newspaper and she just knew she had to see him, one last time. it turns out that it was not as easy as she thought. their love some summers ago was still there. noah was still the same guy she loved, and allie finds herself heads over heels all over again over him. now, she is facing with the dilemma of choosing the one true love or the fiance she knows she loves dearly too.

although the story is very touching, the movie was okay. i mean you can tell about the characters early on. and some of the dialogues are pretty corny. but i have to give it to macadams and gosling. they are, indeed, are real actors who are capable to act, not just to show pretty faces. i saw mcadams in the recent "mean girls" with lindsay lohan, and i thought she can really make character works, despite being the villain. and gosling.. oh what can i say about him? he's grown up and he's ready to roll to a bigger thing in hollywood (insider info: gosling was in the mickey mouse club along with justin timberlake, britney spears & christina aguilera, but he chose to act - good choice!). his previous movies like "murder by numbers" or "the believer" shows his acting skills enough to know that he's not just some pretty guy with a hot body.

back to the movie, while the story about allie & noah was a flashback, the movie is about the two characters in senior home who tried to connect to each other. james garner and gena rowlands were the two characters. and again.. these two actors know what they're doing, and their acting also creates the nice aura to the movie.

all and all, the movie is still a worth to see. the story is just too beautiful and the acting was just a good enough reason, let alone the cinematography. it was just breathtaking. i wouldn't really call this movie a good movie, not by any means i would think it would be an oscar contender or box office blockbuster, but i recommend this movie to you, if you want to revisit that old feeling of first love. you just gotta see it to understand what i mean.

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>> rated by :: sLesTa | [ ]

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