Cast: Ryan Gosling, Rachel McAdams, James Marsden, Gena Rowlands
Director: Nick Cassavetes

The Notebook of Love

By Jermaine Ang • UrbanWire
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What is love?

Is it the memory of your first love - that special girl you met at a fun fair - or is it the bitter reality of loving someone who has no clue who you are?

Based on the original 1996 novel of the same title by New York Times' best-selling author Nicholas Sparks (A Walk To Remember, Message in a Bottle), The Notebook traces the journey of a young couple, from different walks of life, who meet and fall in love, only to have everything they believe in destroyed by parental objections and class differences.

Now, parental objections have always been a big issue in many love stories but because they finally have a life together against all odds, it gives hope the way say Romeo and Juliet and other similar tragedies don't because the leads kill themselves without even giving love a chance.

Set in the late 1930s, Noah Calhoun (Ryan Gosling), a country boy, and city girl Allie Hamilton (Rachel McAdams) meet in the little town of Seabrook in Newburn, North Carolina, and have a beautiful a summer romance. They become inseparable, but like all love stories, disaster strikes when Allie's parents find out about Noah and how poor he is. Allie is forbidden from seeing him and whisked away back to New York without even a goodbye to her young love.

In New York, Allie attends college while Noah joins the army and fights in World War II, both trying to forget their summer romance. Allie eventually manages to forget about Noah, getting engaged to a young dashing officer, Lon (James Marsden). However, when Noah returns home, he realises that he has never forgotten Allie. Obsessed with her memory, he works tirelessly to renovate a huge old plantation house that they had dreamed of living in, hoping somehow that if he gets the house fixed up just right, Allie might come back into his life.

With just a few weeks to Allie's pending marriage to Lon, she suddenly sees Noah's picture in the newspaper, and drives out by herself to see him. When she finally meets him again, Allie realises to her horror that she has never stopped loving Noah either. She is then forced to make a decision that will change her life forever.

The Notebook will appeal to every romantic out there. Director Nick Cassavetes (John Q, She's So Lovely) has done a wonderful job of interweaving the past and present together without muddling up the storyline. The chemistry between the young lovers is also unmistakable, quite a feat considering this is their first collaboration. Both Gosling and McAdams manage to bring the temperature of the room up by a few degrees. Even just sitting in the audience, I could feel the sizzling chemistry between them.

One of the most romantic scenes in the whole movie has to be the one where Noah takes Allie on a boat ride. When Noah slows down, a sea of white appears. The waters are covered with white ducks and swans, and the lake a beautiful and shady, with rays of the setting sun breaking through the trees around them.

There were certain bits of the film that weren't so enjoyable, though, such as the quarrelling scenes between Allie and her mum. Though Allie was at the age where she knew what love was, she still acted and sounded like a spoilt child about to throw a tantrum. I just couldn't understand how someone could talk about loving another, when her every action spoke of selfishness.

However, although I didn't like some parts of Allie's character, Rachel McAdams last seen in Mean Girls as the leader of The Plastics, Regina George, has certainly surpassed herself with her very genuine portrayal of Allie, whose many traits - both good and bad - make for a feisty, believable protagonist. Ryan Gosling (Murder By Numbers) is also convincing in his portrayal of the innocent, carefree country boy Noah, whose love for Allie surpasses all obstacles. In fact, it wouldn't be surprising if McAdams, Gosling, and The Notebook were nominated for Oscars.

The book on which the movie is based, surprisingly, was boring. I almost fell asleep reading it. The author did not manage to tug at my heartstrings or make me cry, unlike the movie. I could not empathise with the characters as there was a lack of descriptive information about them.

The sequences in the book also felt like they did not flow. I even got somewhat confused in the middle of it. I closed the book feeling nothing, no tears, no emotions, just relief that I had reached the end.

All in all, I enjoyed myself and would recommend this movie to anyone who is looking for their true love. You will never know until you try. The Notebook is one story that contains every aspect of a wonderful love story, and is likely to be remembered for a long time to come.

Rating: 4 out of 5 stars

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