FAM Movie Review : The Notebook  ( 2004 )

Director : Nick Cassavetes.

Our Rating : 9/10

Writer : Jeremy Leven and Jan Sardi

Cinematography : Robert Fraisse

Cast : Ryan Gosling ( Noah ) , Rachel McAdams  ( Allie ) , Gena Rowlands  ( Allie Calhoun ) , James Garner  ( Duke ) , James Marsden ( Lon Hammond )

Notebook , a Sensational Romantic Drama made based on the Novel of same Name by the great Writer Nicholas Sparks known for his excellence in Romantic and powerful Heart Touching  Scripts. This Movie is no less good then his previous works . This Movie starts with a Old man Duke ( James Garner ) narrating a story from some diary to a Old Women ( Gena Rowlands ) in a hospital who is suffering from Dementia a condition noticed by Loss of brain functions like thinking , sense , memory . The Story Duke reads to old women, takes us back to 1940's Sea-brook Island Carolina narrating a beautiful love story between a Poor Local Young Chap Noah ( Ryan Gosling ) with a beautiful young girl Allie ( Racheal McAdams ) who is born with silver spoon raised on a wealthy family. Allie comes to this beautiful greenish land from city with her family for a summer vacation . There she comes across Noah on a local village carnival and straightway Noah get attracted towards Allie on his first meet and asks her for a date in a extraordinary way on a giant roller coaster wheel. Noah does many things which she starts admiring him and finally Noah wins and they are in love alas. Things go on as normal as any other love story until when Allie parents gets to know about their relation but they don't accept as Noah is a poor local country boy which they feel will not be suitable for their rich family. Though Allie Confronts her parents , Noah & Allie breakup because of some simple argument which later her parents take it as a advantage ends their summer camp , vacates the island. Though Allie tries to reach Noah before leaving the village she couldn't see him as he is left to nearby village for some work and they get separated without any lost words. Noah is broken on his return when he found that the huge house she was in for summer camp is vacant and she left him without any message. Days pass and Noah writes letters to Allie for 365 days for every single day of the year but unfortunately the letters did not get delivered as Allie's mother receives all those letters and she hides them all from the eyes of Allie.

Days Pass and a year is gone , where Noah lost his hope that she would return any one of his letters and moves on. He sends a farewell letter on 365 day which also did not reach Allie. At same time , Allie completes her nursing course in city comes across a Young handsome soldier "Lon" and falls in love with him. Things happen and she is engaged to Lon. Noah joins military during a immediate army enrollment .   After few years of service in military Noah returns back to his town and with his little savings and selling his dads house , he buys the 200 year old building where he met Allie. The Building is totally a mess and Noah decides to restore it to the same old look thinking that it can bring Allie back to him . Everything goes smooth until one day when Noah travels to nearby city for the building construction approval meets Allie on a restaurant  kissing Lon. Seeing this recent affair , Noah is shattered , broken and his life went total upside down in a single moment. As per Allie , she thought Noah never tried to reach her thinking he moved on with his life , so she too didn't hesitate a single moment and fell in love with Lon. Lon is also soldier but has a wealthy background which helped Allie Parents to approve their relationship and their engagement. Everything was normal until once day when Allie finds Noah pic with the old building on a local news paper ad. She was surprised but did want to make one final visit to the village to meet Noah. She did reach the village and seeing the beautiful building reminds her of those precious days when she was young and all her memories about first crush engulfs her. Noah is shocked to she her finally and his heart beats fast. She stays there for dinner and they talk , share a lot. Allie also comes to know about the letters he wrote for Allie every single day for 365 days and she just breaks in tears to find the love he had on her. They make love that night irrespective of the fact that she is engaged. Will she be with her first love Noah or would she betray Lon ..!! Its a battle of hearts and she is shattered , confused to choose what she exactly wants. Will she Leave Noah for Lon or does she have strength to explain Lon  to get her first love is the rest part of the story. At the end we just come to know that the Old man is none other then Noah n duke was his alias name and he is actually reading his own story to the old women who is infact Allie from a notebook written by her , She lost all her memory due to Dementia and she doesn't recognize herself or Noah now. At The front page of the notebook she clearly leaves a note to Noah to make sure he reads the entire story to her if at all she forgets her memory and so he does. She did get her memory back for few min at the end of the story and it doesn't stay long for more then a minute where she falls back to the same old condition. Noah once again heart broken due to Allie condition, Feeling helpless has a heart attack and he is admitted to same hospital with Allie who is also in a critical condition . Noah meets Allie in the hospital in a non visiting hours escaping the eyes of hospital staff. He finds out that Allie had regained her memory and He promises Allie that no matter what , even if she loses her complete memory  he will never leave her alone and they both hug each other and sleep in the same bed. Next day morning , Nurse finds the two old beautiful lovely couple passed away with still their hands held together as if showing the audience that Noah making sure he will never let her go no matter what and follow her wherever she goes. Movie ends here with a beautiful note and the Last page of the Notebook is definitely filled with lot of tears.



Director Nick was really wonderful in capturing hearts of audience by bringing this Book version to big screen in a wonderful way. The Dialogues at many places are heart wrenching and would melt you at some scenes. Ryan Gosling was perfect tailor fit for the role and he did very well to the Noah character along with the young gorgeous beautiful women Allie done my Rachel. Am sure many book readers would have gone mad and happy seeing their two fav characters coming alive . Cinematography was top notch and beautifully shot like Rain scene , The building in the garden were just beautiful . The way he proposes her on the giant wheel , Road Signal light scene , Clip when her mom returns all 365 letters to Allie , Lon explaining three choices to Allie when he comes to know about Noah , The Boat & rain scene and the climax scene  in hospital are so mesmerizing ,  which for sure will remain in your mind and haunt you for ever.  That's a masterclass work from Nick and sure he did a splendid job giving life to this wonderful Novel. Its a pure brilliance and wonderful watching it every minute.

FAM Punch Line : A Top Notch Film with Perfect Blending of Love and Emotion into one single beautiful movie giving the audience the extreme pleasure while watching throughout its run-time. Nicholas Sparks works can never disappoint the audience and sure will be a virtual treat for the novel readers . viewers liking this kind of Romantic Genre Movies. This will be one of Must watch romantic Movie of all time and sure will give you a unique experience watching it.. Don't Miss it . Its just another Nicholas Sparks wonder , a smooth southern romance movie finds its way straight into your heart. Its definite worth a try ,have Fun watching. FAM Certified.




Thanks to Jeremy Leven and Jan Sardi For some of unforgettable lines which is a lifeline for any romantic movie . A Few here

 Young Allie: When I'm with Noah I feel like one person and when I'm with you I feel like someone totally different.
Lon: Allie, it's normal not to forget your first love but I want you for myself. I don't want to convince my fiancée that she should be with me.
Young Allie: You don't have to. I already know I should be with you.

Young Noah letter: My Dearest Allie. I couldn't sleep last night because I know that it's over between us. I'm not bitter anymore, because I know that what we had was real. And if in some distant place in the future we see each other in our new lives, I'll smile at you with joy and remember how we spent the summer beneath the trees, learning from each other and growing in love. The best love is the kind that awakens the soul and makes us reach for more, that plants a fire in our hearts and brings peace to our minds, and that's what you've given me. That's what I hope to give to you forever. I love you. I'll be seeing you. Noah

Noah: I am nothing special; just a common man with common thoughts, and I've led a common life. There are no monuments dedicated to me and my name will soon be forgotten. But in one respect I have succeeded as gloriously as anyone who's ever lived: I've loved another with all my heart and soul; and to me, this has always been enough.

Young Noah: So it's not gonna be easy. It's going to be really hard; we're gonna have to work at this everyday, but I want to do that because I want you. I want all of you, forever, everyday. You and me... everyday.

Young Allie: What easy way? There is no easy way, no matter what I do, somebody gets hurt.
Young Noah: Would you stop thinking about what everyone wants? Stop thinking about what I want, what he wants, what your parents want. What do YOU want? What do you WANT?

Noah: Summer romances begin for all kinds of reasons, but when all is said and done, they have one thing in common. They're shooting stars, a spectacular moment of light in the heavens, fleeting glimpse of eternity, and in a flash they're gone.

Duke: She had come back into his life like a sudden flame; blazing and streaming into his heart. Noah stayed up all night contemplating the certain agony he knew would be his if he were to lose her twice.

Lon: [to Allie] The way I see it, I got three choices. One, I can shoot him. Two, I can kick the crap out of him. Or three, I leave you. Well, all that's no good. You see, 'cause none of those options get me you.

Duke: It was an improbable romance. He was a country boy. She was from the city. She had the world at her feet, while he didn't have two dimes to rub together.