The Notebook (2004)

Featured Audience Ratings

• Shawn E

  
  A cliche romance that does not live up to it's massive hype. The connection between the two narratives is easily figured out in advanced, and the relationship between the two characters is hard to believe. It's a film for a certain type of audience, and director Nick… More
  A cliche romance that does not live up to it's massive hype. The connection between the two narratives is easily figured out in advanced, and the relationship between the two characters is hard to believe. It's a film for a certain type of audience, and director Nick Cassavetes makes all attempts to wring every tear from that audience.

• Brad W

  
  The Notebook is a very good movie, a fun movie, but at times a boring movie. What seperates this from other chick flicks is that this is told throuh the eyes of a man who tells the relationship with him and his wife over many years. The plot was fun a original and actually good, but… More
  The Notebook is a very good movie, a fun movie, but at times a boring movie. What seperates this from other chick flicks is that this is told throuh the eyes of a man who tells the relationship with him and his wife over many years. The plot was fun a original and actually good, but at times very slow. The cast was great, I think Racheal mcAdams deserved more praise but thats just me. A slow movie, very slow, but overall becomes one of the best chick flicks ever made.

• Albert K

  
  I don't remember too much about the movie but other then the fact that the drama was wayyyy too forced. Cliche after cliche and overall, was not interesting enough to keep me entertained.

• Letitia L

  
  Not usually a fan of sappy romances, but this one struck a chord with me. I'll be the first to yap about independence and detachment in modern relationships, but this managed to remind even me of all the things love should be, like sacrifice and old-fashioned devotion. The… More
  Not usually a fan of sappy romances, but this one struck a chord with me. I'll be the first to yap about independence and detachment in modern relationships, but this managed to remind even me of all the things love should be, like sacrifice and old-fashioned devotion. The stuff that made our parents' and grandparents' marriages work.

• Jeff "

  
  Ever since the release of this film, there's been nothing but praise about how grand the story was and such. The passionate kissing scene during the rain storm made it in the top ten best on screen kisses or something like that. I never really was interested in watching this, and… More
  Ever since the release of this film, there's been nothing but praise about how grand the story was and such. The passionate kissing scene during the rain storm made it in the top ten best on screen kisses or something like that. I never really was interested in watching this, and I felt it was overhyped. I thought that it would be one of those films where the hype kills the film, I was right. There's nothing extraordinary about the film. The has a really good story, yes, good acting as well, but its nothing close as to what I would expect from such a hyped film. I thought the films story lacked slightly and thought it was good, it was nowhere near the masterpiece that every mainstream critic claimed it to be. I liked the film somewhat, but it lacked the power of real love stories such as Memoirs of a Geisha and Atonement, those films were terrific in making the audience believe the chemistry between the two characters that are involved. In the case of The Notebook, I felt that the film was good, definitely not a masterpiece and that the film could have been something memorable, but instead it's just an average romance film with decent acting from its actors, and there's some impressive names attached to this film as well. Could their talent elevate this film to masterpiece? No! The Notebook is good, but it's not what everyone says it is. Worth watching at least once, but if you're looking for a grand romance epic, you won't find it here. A good film, but nothing grand or epic.

• Eric A

  
  Every girl's favorite movie! It's pretty touching, coming from a dude.

• Bethany M

  
  There are not enough words to describe how amazingly beautiful this film is. Rachel McAdams and Ryan Gosling are an unbelivablely gorgeous couple and if you haven't seen this film, you have not lived! If this doesn't make you cry, you don't have a heart.

• Dean M

  
  Heartwarming romantic movie that gives your insides go mushy with emotions. This is the bestest love story I have ever seen! The result is a beautifully produced version of Nicholas Sparks's book. The movie gallops in speed as we are absorbed into the great plot and brilliant… More
  Heartwarming romantic movie that gives your insides go mushy with emotions. This is the bestest love story I have ever seen! The result is a beautifully produced version of Nicholas Sparks's book. The movie gallops in speed as we are absorbed into the great plot and brilliant acting of all the cast involved. Ryan Gosling is brilliant as the shy and quiet Noah, and Rachael McAdams is superbly beautiful as Allie. The other cast members were outstanding, including James Garner and Gena Rowlands in the parallel story. Director Nick Cassavetes does an exceptional job of presenting the story without any sappy or phony elements that would have made the film cheap and predictable.

• Nadira I

  
  I don't know why rotten tomatoes' critics don't like this movie, but it is a love movie for everyone (men or women) and shows what the true meaning of love is. I am pretty sure many boys have seen this one because it is so precious. It is probably the best love story… More
  I don't know why rotten tomatoes' critics don't like this movie, but it is a love movie for everyone (men or women) and shows what the true meaning of love is. I am pretty sure many boys have seen this one because it is so precious. It is probably the best love story ever told by Nicholas Sparks. Ryan Gosling and Rachel McAdams at their best. Not to be missed. This movie is very moving and we will remember it forever. It is one of my favorites of all time.

• Jameson W

  
  To say this movie is horrible and unenjoyable is completely unfair. It is in fact highly enjoyable and touching. However, there is a bit too much sap for me.

• Randy T

  
  I grew up with a father that was sociopathic on his best days and psychopathic the rest of the time. Being at home with him was a miserable, miserable existence. I think God, in his mercy, compensated me by giving me the most wonderful grandparents that ever walked the earth.… More
  I grew up with a father that was sociopathic on his best days and psychopathic the rest of the time. Being at home with him was a miserable, miserable existence. I think God, in his mercy, compensated me by giving me the most wonderful grandparents that ever walked the earth. Leonard and Loretta fell in love in high school and ran away to get married in 1943, just before Leonard was drafted into the marine corps at the tail end of WWII. They eventually had six children, the oldest of which was my father. In 1962 I came along as the first of what would eventually be 16 grandchildren. Their farm was my sanctuary whenever my dad went on one of his rampages. I loved it there, never a harsh word, never a hand raised in anger, and as much laughter as your gut could handle. THAT was how a marriage should be, that is what a HOME really is. About five years ago my Grandfather passed away from a stroke. My Grandmother, who was in the early stages of Alzheimer's when he died, followed about three years later..At the end she had forgotten all sixteen of us grandkids, she even failed to recognize her six children, but she never stopped looking for my grandpa. Right up to the end. In fact, I'm pretty sure the last word she ever spoke was "Leonard", I know it was the last word I ever heard her say aloud. <i>The Notebook</i>, in all it's sappy glory, took me back to that farm, if only for an hour or two, and reminded me that happily ever after isn't always just in storybooks and screenplays - its elusive, its rare and its possible.

• Spencer S

  
  It's a great love story and all, but I just don't believe it deserves better recognition than that.

• danny d

  
  although the film rests on some cliches, it throws curves at those cliches often enough to remain fresh. sentimental but romantic, im not sure the film has enough to justify its iconic status, but this is a very good film and one of the best date movies of its decade. this is the… More
  although the film rests on some cliches, it throws curves at those cliches often enough to remain fresh. sentimental but romantic, im not sure the film has enough to justify its iconic status, but this is a very good film and one of the best date movies of its decade. this is the kind of film that inspires greater romanticism and dedication to a loved one, and anyone that is married could learn from noahs commitment.

• erika b

  
  One of the best love stories ever made.

• Cassie H

  
  True love exists between Noah Calhoun & Allie Hamilton. Meeting on the night of the carnival was fate for them has they fall in love over the summer. The summer where they each found their true love. Separated by rags & riches, they see each other seven years later when… More
  True love exists between Noah Calhoun & Allie Hamilton. Meeting on the night of the carnival was fate for them has they fall in love over the summer. The summer where they each found their true love. Separated by rags & riches, they see each other seven years later when Noah & his house; their dream house, in the paper. Allie comes to visit Noah & tells him that she's getting engaged to Lon Hammond, a war soldier. They spend a couple of days together & realize that they still never stopped loving each other. Noah wrote 365 unanswered letters & Allie thought that they were done for good. The greatest love story ever told & a must see for the romantic at heart. A great love story!!! :)

• Jason O

  
  All I'll say is that I wish it hadn't taken me so long to see this movie, but that I definitely saw why it seems to be on nearly everyone's list of favorite movies. Wish my life could have this story.

• KJ P

  
  It was amazing for a love story, but not something I'm rushing to watch again!

• Manu G

  
  My favorite movie alltime, best romantic story I have ever seen. I never get tired of seeing this movie and never will!!! It's just an amazing love story the one every one desires to have in real life. In a modern-day nursing home, an elderly man named Duke (James Garner)… More
  My favorite movie alltime, best romantic story I have ever seen. I never get tired of seeing this movie and never will!!! It's just an amazing love story the one every one desires to have in real life. In a modern-day nursing home, an elderly man named Duke (James Garner) begins to read a love story from his notebook to a female fellow patient (Gena Rowlands). The story begins in 1940. At a carnival in Seabrook Island, South Carolina, local country boy Noah Calhoun (Ryan Gosling) sees seventeen-year-old heiress Allie Hamilton (Rachel McAdams) for the first time and is immediately smitten. She continuously refuses his persistent advances until their well-meaning friends lure them together; they then get to know each other on a midnight walk through empty Seabrook. Noah and Allie spend an idyllic summer together. One night, a week before Allie is to leave town, she and Noah go up to an abandoned house called The Windsor Plantation. Noah tells her that he hopes to buy the house, and Allie makes him promise that the house will be white, with blue shutters, a walk-around porch, and a room that overlooks the creek so she can paint. They intend to make love for the first time, but are interrupted by Noah's friend Fin (Kevin Connolly) with the news that Allie's parents have the police out looking for her. When Allie returns home, her disapproving parents ban her from seeing Noah again. Allie fights with Noah outside and the two decide to break up. Allie immediately regrets the decision but Noah drives away. The next morning, Allie's mother reveals that they are going home that morning. Allie frantically tries to find Noah, but is forced to leave without saying good-bye. The Hamiltons then send Allie to New York, where she begins attending Sarah Lawrence College. Noah, devastated by his separation from Allie, writes her one letter a day for a year, only to get no reply as Allie's mother keeps the letters from her. Noah and Allie have no choice but to move on with their lives. Allie continues to attend school, while Noah and Fin enlist to fight in World War II. Fin is killed in battle. Allie becomes a nurse for wounded soldiers. There, she meets the wealthy Lon Hammond, Jr. (James Marsden), a well-connected young lawyer who is handsome, sophisticated, charming and comes from old Southern money. The two eventually become engaged, to the joy of Allie's parents, although Allie sees Noah's face when Lon asks her to marry him. When Noah returns home, he discovers his father has sold their home so that Noah can go ahead and buy The Windsor Plantation. While visiting Charleston to file some paper work, Noah witnesses Allie and Lon kissing at a restaurant, causing Noah to go a little crazy, convincing himself that if he fixes up the house, Allie will come back to him. While trying on her wedding dress in the 1940s, Allie is startled to read about Noah completing the house in the style section of a Raleigh newspaper and faints. She visits Noah in Seabrook and he invites her to dinner, during which Allie tells Noah about her engagement. Noah questions whether Allie's future husband is a good man and she reassures Noah that he is. Later in the evening, Noah invites Allie to come back tomorrow. In the present, it is made clear that the elderly woman is Allie suffering from dementia, which has stolen her memories and Duke is her husband. Allie does not recognize their grown children and grandchildren, who beg Duke to come home with them. He insists on staying with Allie. The next morning, Allie and Noah go rowing on a nearby lake and begin to reminisce about their summer together. As a rain storm starts Noah rows to shore, where Allie demands to know why Noah never wrote to her. After the revelation that Noah had indeed written to Allie, they share a passionate kiss, before making love into the night. The next day, Allies mother appears on Noahs doorstep, telling Allie that Lon has followed her to Seabrook after Allie's father told him about Noah. Her mother takes Allie out for a drive to show her that there had been a time in her life when she could relate to Allie's present situation. On returning to Noah's, she hands her daughter the bundle of 365 letters that Noah had written to her. When alone, Noah asks Allie what she is going to do; Allie is confused and confesses that she doesnt know. Noah asks her to just stay with him, admitting it is going to be really hard, but he is willing to go through anything because he wants to be with her. Confused as ever, Allie drives off. Allie drives to the hotel and confesses to Lon, who is angry but admits that he still loves her. He tells her that he does not want to convince his fiancée that she should be with him, but Allie tells him he does not have to, because she already knows she should be with him. The film goes back to the elderly couple, and Duke asks Allie who she chose. She soon realizes the answer herself; young Allie appears at Noah's doorstep, having left Lon at the hotel and chosen Noah. They embrace in reunion. Elderly Allie suddenly remembers her past before she and Noah/Duke joyfully spend a brief intimate moment together; after originally finding out about her illness, she had herself written their story in the notebook with the instructions for Noah to "Read this to me, and I'll come back to you." But soon Allie relapses, losing her memories of Noah yet again. She panics, and has to be sedated by the attending physician. This proves to be too difficult for Noah to watch and he breaks down. The next morning, Noah is found unconscious in bed and he is rushed to the hospital; he later returns to the nursing home's intensive care ward. He goes to Allie's room later that night, and Allie remembers again. The next morning, a nurse finds them in bed together, having both died peacefully holding each other's hands. The last scene shows a flock of birds flying away.

• Carlos M

  
  The Notebook is a surprisingly sensitive and touching romance, and it makes us care so much about its characters that we can't help being moved by their honest love story.

• Candy R

  
  I'm not one for soppy romantic movies but this one pulls at the heart strings. An older gentlemen reads a story to an elderly lady in a nursing home. The story is about two teenagers Noah and Allie who meet one summer and fall in love. Allie's parents are well to do and Noah… More
  I'm not one for soppy romantic movies but this one pulls at the heart strings. An older gentlemen reads a story to an elderly lady in a nursing home. The story is about two teenagers Noah and Allie who meet one summer and fall in love. Allie's parents are well to do and Noah is poor. They fell out and Allie's parents send her away to school and they don't see each other for years. Noah writes to her every day for a year but there is no response. They try to move on with their lives but something draws them back to each other and they pick up where they left off. It reminds me of 'Fried Green Tomatoes', there are good and bad things that happen but it all comes good in the end. Excellent cast and story.

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