Popcorn and Inspiration: ‘The Notebook’: So What If It’s a ‘Tear-Jerker’?

PG-13 | 2h 3m | Romance | June 25, 2004

“The Notebook.” Rotten Tomatoes critics: 53, audience: 85.

What? Are you kidding me? Few things drive me up a wall these days more than ridiculous Rotten Tomatoes critic/audience opinion-skews, when you can drive a Mack truck between them. Because somebody’s clearly out of touch and missing the point.

Is it the audience? When things hit “critical mass” and it becomes a clear case of “where there’s smoke there’s fire,” it means a resonating chord has been struck with people regardless of someone’s film-school knowledge of cinematography and the fashionable knee-jerk labeling of a heartfelt, old-fashioned romance as a “tear-jerker.” Something deep, archetypal, and true has been addressed. The people know what they like, and the critics tie themselves in knots with preconceived notions.

The 200-year-old house that Noah intends to restore as a home for Allie and himself, in "The Notebook." New Line Cinemas

‘The Notebook’

I saw “The Notebook” back when it debuted in 2004. I remember liking it quite a lot. Watching it recently, I forgot how much. “The Notebook” is a thoroughly old-fashioned romantic melodrama, charting the obstacles placed in the path of two star-crossed young lovers from opposite sides of the have/have-not tracks.

In the summer of 1940, Noah Calhoun (Ryan Gosling) and Allie Hamilton (Rachel McAdams) first meet at a carnival in his North Carolina hometown. Seeing her in a bumper car, it’s love at first sight for not-shy Noah, who then basically does a swan dive into the middle of Allie’s Ferris wheel car before it rotates skyward, landing between her and her stunned and exasperated date.

(L–R) Noah Calhoun (Ryan Gosling), Allie Hamilton (Rachel McAdams), and Allie's date (Andrew Schaff), in "The Notebook." New Line Cinemas

Hanging by one hand, 200 feet in the sky, Noah makes a humorous, blackmail-by-death-fall, coercive date request. Allie screams her acquiescence in terror but then evens the score by yanking Noah’s trousers to his ankles, leaving his boxer shorts flapping in the breeze, to the delight of carnival-goers everywhere. Is this not excellent chemistry?

Allie Hamilton (Rachel McAdams) and Noah Calhoun (Ryan Gosling), in "The Notebook." New Line Cinemas

But Noah works at the local lumberyard, and Allie, ever busy with piano lessons and applying to Ivy League colleges, is summering in a local mansion with her wealthy family. Which means it’s gonna be a true love versus some-guy-with-money tale.

Noah (Ryan Gosling) and Allie (Rachel McAdams), in "The Notebook." New Line Cinemas

It’s a fairy tale, whirlwind romance. When Allie first visits Noah at home, he’s reading Walt Whitman’s poetry on the porch to his dad, Frank (Sam Shepard). Frank is deeply impressed with the beauty of his son’s date. Getting a tad competitive, to Noah’s mortification, dad informs Allie that they’d managed to get rid of Noah’s childhood stuttering with poetry reading. Then he invites her in for some breakfast pancakes, at 10:00 at night.

There’s much jumping in the local swimming hole, boating on swan-populated rivers; Allie shares her deep love of painting watercolors, which Noah takes note of for purposes of later wooing.

Noah (Ryan Gosling) and Allie (Rachel McAdams) go boating, in "The Notebook." New Line Cinemas

However, Allie’s parents bred her for the good things in life, and after observing her summer romance heat up into the danger zone, her haughty, hard-faced, and manipulative mother (Joan Allen shines in the role) warns and eventually forbids her daughter to continue spending time with poor Noah, whom she labels “trash.” Allie’s shipped off to college in New York, her parents hoping that she’ll soon forget about puppy love and mature into valuing money, position, and power.

Allie Hamilton (Rachel McAdams, L) and her mother, Anne (Joan Allen). Anne shows her daughter her own first love and how he's amounted to nothing, in "The Notebook." New Line Cinemas

War

Meanwhile, heartbroken Noah patriotically enlists in the Army, serving under General Patton in Europe and losing his best buddy Fin (Kevin Connolly) to a mortar attack.

Also feeling the effects of the war, Allie volunteers as a nurse at an Army hospital. There she meets a young soldier named Lonnie, bandaged from head to toe, who asks her on a date.

Lon Hammond (James Marsden), healed from his war wounds and back to woo Allie (Rachel McAdams), in "The Notebook." New Line Cinemas

Once out of his bandages, Lonnie turns out to be a serious heartthrob of a Southern gentleman, who comes from money—and a stockbroker, thrown into the bargain. Allie’s soon out on the town, enjoying the finer things in life: nightclubs featuring Cab Calloway, dancing, and champagne. Naturally, Allie’s soon got an expensive diamond engagement ring on her pretty finger.

Noah, eventually returning stateside to his rural hometown, purchases and restores the decrepit mansion that was the site of his last night with Allie, which he’d told her he’d buy and fix up just for her. He obsessively channels all his love for Allie into this home renovation labor of love, becoming a bit of a local eccentric, and running off potential buyers who try to lowball him on buying his masterpiece—with a shotgun.

The 200-year-old house that Noah intended to restore as a home for Allie and himself—restored, in "The Notebook." New Line Cinemas

Noah’s laudable feat of handiwork is written up in the local paper. Allie’s mom happens to hand her that very same newspaper to read a different article, as Allie’s standing there in her wedding dress at her bridal shower. Allie turns the page … and faints. There are no coincidences!

Allie Hamilton (Rachel McAdams), engaged to another man, comes to visit her first love, in "The Notebook." New Line Cinemas

Performances

Rachel McAdams is wonderful as the spirited and effervescent young Allie. Ryan Gosling made his romantic lead debut here as the younger Noah, with a determined-yet-laid-back charm. The two of them were and are so convincing, they convinced each other right out of the movie and landed in a two-year off-screen romance.

Noah (Ryan Gosling) challenges Allie's (Rachel McAdams) need to cling to security and to tolerate boredom, in "The Notebook." New Line Cinemas

While not as visceral and electrifying as those two, James Garner and Gena Rowlands, playing the elder Noah and Allie, invest their roles with great dignity and have a chemistry as sweet as honey.

The older Noah (James Garner) and Allie (Gena Rowlands), in "The Notebook." New Line Cinemas

Director Nick Cassavetes, son of John Cassavetes (and also son of Gena Rowlands), handily captures the atmosphere of the 1930s and ‘40s American South and clearly nailed the main job of directors, which is perfect, chemistry-generating casting.

The older Noah (James Garner) and Allie (Gena Rowlands) decide to depart this world together, in "The Notebook." New Line Cinemas

Is “The Notebook” a “tear-jerker”? It’ll make you cry, but it’s not manipulative. Heartbreak will make you cry, you know? So will two elderly people who once had a blazing romance, and now one has lost their memory to senile dementia. Is it a “chick flick”? It’s just an inspiring love story that will touch your heart and make you believe that true love can last a lifetime and conquer all.

Movie poster for "The Notebook." New Line Cinemas

‘The Notebook’ Director: Nick Cassavetes Starring: Ryan Gosling, Rachel McAdams, James Garner, Gena Rowlands, Sam Shepard, Kevin Connolly MPAA Rating: PG-13 Running Time: 2 hour, 3 minutes Release Date: June 25, 2004 Rating: 4 out of 5 stars