notebook english movie review

Common Sense Media

Movie & TV reviews for parents

• For Parents
• For Educators
• Our Work and Impact

Or browse by category:

• Movie Reviews
• Best Movie Lists
• Best Movies on Netflix, Disney+, and More

Common Sense Selections for Movies

50 Modern Movies All Kids Should Watch Before They're 12

• Best TV Lists
• Best TV Shows on Netflix, Disney+, and More
• Common Sense Selections for TV
• Video Reviews of TV Shows

Best Kids' Shows on Disney+

Best Kids' TV Shows on Netflix

• Book Reviews
• Best Book Lists
• Common Sense Selections for Books

8 Tips for Getting Kids Hooked on Books

50 Books All Kids Should Read Before They're 12

• Game Reviews
• Best Game Lists

Common Sense Selections for Games

• Video Reviews of Games

Nintendo Switch Games for Family Fun

• Podcast Reviews
• Best Podcast Lists

Common Sense Selections for Podcasts

Parents' Guide to Podcasts

• App Reviews
• Best App Lists

Social Networking for Teens

Gun-Free Action Game Apps

Reviews for AI Apps and Tools

• YouTube Channel Reviews
• YouTube Kids Channels by Topic

Parents' Ultimate Guide to YouTube Kids

YouTube Kids Channels for Gamers

• Preschoolers (2-4)
• Little Kids (5-7)
• Big Kids (8-9)
• Pre-Teens (10-12)
• Teens (13+)
• Screen Time
• Social Media
• Online Safety
• Identity and Community

How to Help Kids Build Character Strengths with Quality Media

• Family Tech Planners
• Digital Skills
• All Articles
• Latino Culture
• Black Voices
• Asian Stories
• Native Narratives
• LGBTQ+ Pride
• Best of Diverse Representation List

Multicultural Books

YouTube Channels with Diverse Representations

Podcasts with Diverse Characters and Stories

The notebook.

• Common Sense Says
• Parents Say 35 Reviews
• Kids Say 107 Reviews

Common Sense Media Review

By Nell Minow , based on child development research. How do we rate?

More sex than you'd expect for a syrupy romance.

Parents Need to Know

Parents need to know that The Notebook is a World War II-era romantic drama film directed by Nick Cassavetes and based on the 1996 novel of the same name by Nicholas Sparks. Scenes include passionate kissing and a fairly graphic lovemaking scene (though only shoulders and a side breast are shown). Characters…

Why Age 14+?

Steamy passion between the two young lovers. Lots of making out and heavy pettin

A 17-year-old smokes a cigar. Adults drink cocktails, wine, champagne, and beer.

Noah and Finn are engaged in active duty during World War II. There's a bomb rai

Words/phrases used include "damn," "crap," "goddammit," "son of a bitch," and "p

Any Positive Content?

The movie's ultimate message is that true love conquers all. But there are also

Predominantly White cast, with most Black characters shown in stereotypical role

Though it's romantic to watch characters fall in love so wholly and stay devoted

Sex, Romance & Nudity

Steamy passion between the two young lovers. Lots of making out and heavy petting. Characters undress in front of each other (only their shoulders are shown). A fairly graphic lovemaking scene (again, just shoulders visible, plus a brief glimpse of breast from the side).

Did you know you can flag iffy content? Adjust limits for Sex, Romance & Nudity in your kid's entertainment guide.

Drinking, Drugs & Smoking

A 17-year-old smokes a cigar. Adults drink cocktails, wine, champagne, and beer. Noah goes on a 10-day drinking binge. Characters drink in excess to ease pain or to lessen their inhibitions. Most meals are accompanied by alcohol.

Did you know you can flag iffy content? Adjust limits for Drinking, Drugs & Smoking in your kid's entertainment guide.

Violence & Scariness

Noah and Finn are engaged in active duty during World War II. There's a bomb raid that incurs heavy losses. Allie nurses soldiers who've lost limbs. Noah stalks and pursues Allie; she repeatedly refuses him and says no, but he threatens self-harm until she consents to a date. Noah and Allie fight passionately—in multiple scenes, she hits and slaps him. Poignant deaths.

Did you know you can flag iffy content? Adjust limits for Violence & Scariness in your kid's entertainment guide.

Words/phrases used include "damn," "crap," "goddammit," "son of a bitch," and "pain in the ass." The slur "darn squaw" is heard in a movie theater.

Did you know you can flag iffy content? Adjust limits for Language in your kid's entertainment guide.

Positive Messages

The movie's ultimate message is that true love conquers all. But there are also less-positive takeaways and stereotypes; see more in Diverse Representations.

Diverse Representations

Predominantly White cast, with most Black characters shown in stereotypical roles (e.g., maid in a wealthy household, caretakers, entertainers). Neutral depictions also include Black couples dancing alongside White couples in a 1940s social club. Socioeconomic disparities are frequently highlighted between the working class (called "poor" and "trash") and the privileged (called "rich"). A movie theater scene shows a non-Native character in redface, and the phrase "darn squaw" can be heard.

Did we miss something on diversity? Suggest an update.

Positive Role Models

Though it's romantic to watch characters fall in love so wholly and stay devoted to each other, some of the choices that the lovers make—like cheating on a relationship, resorting to domestic violence, and lying to family members—don't qualify as role model behavior.

Parents need to know that The Notebook is a World War II-era romantic drama film directed by Nick Cassavetes and based on the 1996 novel of the same name by Nicholas Sparks. Scenes include passionate kissing and a fairly graphic lovemaking scene (though only shoulders and a side breast are shown). Characters drink and smoke; there's also brief battle violence and poignant deaths. Language includes "damn," "son of a bitch," "ass," and the slur "squaw." Iffy messages around romance include the portrayals of stalking, coercion, and domestic violence as simply "passion." The cast is predominantly White, while Black supporting characters fall into various clich és (e.g., a maid). To stay in the loop on more movies like this, you can sign up for weekly Family Movie Night emails .

Where to Watch

Videos and photos.

Parent and Kid Reviews

• Parents say (35)
• Kids say (107)

Based on 35 parent reviews

Enjoyed the movie; should be rated R.

How's nobody talking about the toxic relationships in this, what's the story.

THE NOTEBOOK is a story about a 1940s summer romance between Allie ( Rachel McAdams ), the daughter of wealthy parents, and Noah ( Ryan Gosling ), a working-class boy. They're crazy about each other, but her parents disapprove. When Allie goes to college, Noah writes to her every day, but Allie's mother ( Joan Allen ) withholds his letters. Believing neither have wanted to stay in touch, Allie and Noah go their separate ways as World War II ensues. When newly engaged Allie returns to their small town and sees Noah again, they soon realize their romance is far from over.

Is It Any Good?

In this sweeping drama, the details and dialogue are a bit clumsy, but romantics likely won't care. McAdams and Gosling are talented actors of their generation. James Garner , Gena Rowlands , Sam Shepard (as Noah's father), and Allen (as Allie's mother) also give the material more than it deserves, and director Nick Cassavetes clearly wants this film to be a love letter to Rowlands, his mother, who's luminous in this film. In the end, Noah's enduring love for Allie wins hearts.

Talk to Your Kids About ...

Families can talk about how The Notebook depicts love and romance. Is this what a relationship is "supposed" to be like? Why, or why not?

How does the movie treat sex ? What are the real-life impacts and consequences of sexual activity?

How do we know who we're meant to be with? Who should we listen to as we think about making that choice?

Movie Details

• In theaters : June 25, 2004
• On DVD or streaming : February 7, 2005
• Cast : James Garner , Rachel McAdams , Ryan Gosling
• Director : Nick Cassavetes
• Inclusion Information : Female actors
• Studio : New Line
• Genre : Romance
• Run time : 124 minutes
• MPAA rating : PG-13
• MPAA explanation : some sexuality
• Last updated : August 7, 2024

Did we miss something on diversity?

Research shows a connection between kids' healthy self-esteem and positive portrayals in media. That's why we've added a new "Diverse Representations" section to our reviews that will be rolling out on an ongoing basis. You can help us help kids by suggesting a diversity update.

Suggest an Update

What to watch next.

A Walk to Remember

Love Actually

Romance movies, drama movies that tug at the heartstrings.

Common Sense Media's unbiased ratings are created by expert reviewers and aren't influenced by the product's creators or by any of our funders, affiliates, or partners.

Log in or sign up for Rotten Tomatoes

Trouble logging in?

By continuing, you agree to the Privacy Policy and the Terms and Policies , and to receive email from the Fandango Media Brands .

By creating an account, you agree to the Privacy Policy and the Terms and Policies , and to receive email from Rotten Tomatoes and to receive email from the Fandango Media Brands .

By creating an account, you agree to the Privacy Policy and the Terms and Policies , and to receive email from Rotten Tomatoes.

Email not verified

Let's keep in touch.

Sign up for the Rotten Tomatoes newsletter to get weekly updates on:

• Upcoming Movies and TV shows
• Rotten Tomatoes Podcast
• Media News + More

By clicking "Sign Me Up," you are agreeing to receive occasional emails and communications from Fandango Media (Fandango, Vudu, and Rotten Tomatoes) and consenting to Fandango's Privacy Policy and Terms and Policies . Please allow 10 business days for your account to reflect your preferences.

OK, got it!

• About Rotten Tomatoes®
• Login/signup

Movies in theaters

• Opening This Week
• Top Box Office
• Coming Soon to Theaters
• Certified Fresh Movies

Movies at Home

• Fandango at Home
• Prime Video
• Most Popular Streaming Movies
• What to Watch New

Certified fresh picks

• 77% Beetlejuice Beetlejuice Link to Beetlejuice Beetlejuice
• 94% Rebel Ridge Link to Rebel Ridge
• 96% Red Rooms Link to Red Rooms

New TV Tonight

• 59% Emily in Paris: Season 4
• 20% Three Women: Season 1
• -- Universal Basic Guys: Season 1
• -- My Brilliant Friend: Story of the Lost Child: Season 4
• -- The Old Man: Season 2
• -- How to Die Alone: Season 1
• -- Lego Star Wars: Rebuild the Galaxy: Season 1
• -- The Circle: Season 7
• -- Jack Whitehall: Fatherhood with My Father: Season 1
• -- In Vogue: The 90s: Season 1

Most Popular TV on RT

• 59% The Perfect Couple: Season 1
• 77% Kaos: Season 1
• 84% The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power: Season 2
• 100% Slow Horses: Season 4
• 100% Dark Winds: Season 2
• 97% English Teacher: Season 1
• 93% Bad Monkey: Season 1
• 95% Fight Night: The Million Dollar Heist: Season 1
• 89% Terminator Zero: Season 1
• Best TV Shows
• Most Popular TV

Certified fresh pick

• 95% Fight Night: The Million Dollar Heist Link to Fight Night: The Million Dollar Heist
• All-Time Lists
• Binge Guide
• Comics on TV
• Five Favorite Films
• Video Interviews
• Weekend Box Office
• Weekly Ketchup
• What to Watch

Toronto Film Festival 2024: Movie Scorecard

30 Most Popular Movies Right Now: What to Watch In Theaters and Streaming

What to Watch: In Theaters and On Streaming

Awards Tour

Weekend Box Office: Beetlejuice Beetlejuice Scores Second-Highest September Opening Ever

Movie Re-Release Calendar 2024: Your Guide to Movies Back In Theaters

• Trending on RT
• Best Horror Movies
• Top 10 Box Office
• Toronto Film Festival
• Free Movies on YouTube

The Notebook Reviews

The Notebook is one of those movies that is so sad, you could break out into tears just thinking about it.

Full Review | Oct 23, 2023

A tearjerker? It'll make you cry but it's not manipulative. A chick flick? It's just an inspiring love story that will touch your heart and make you believe true love can last a lifetime and conquer all. Isn't that what we all want?

Full Review | Original Score: 4/5 | Apr 21, 2023

There is always cinema room for the unabashed tearjerker, & THE N delivers on that "note." Any film that has Gena Rowlands in it will at least shine when she is on the screen & this was no exception. David Thornton with a handlebar mustache ... exquisite!

Full Review | Original Score: 3.5/5 | Feb 25, 2023

Though torn between two storylines, one of which vastly outshines the other, "The Notebook" is still an impressive production.

Full Review | Original Score: 8/10 | Nov 7, 2020

Intelligently adapted and written by Jan Sardi, this is the tear-jerker of the summer. A chick flick? Yes. Classic Hollywood romance? Yes. Will it touch your heart? Without a doubt...

Full Review | Nov 13, 2019

James Garner and Gena Rowlands lend the story a graceful gravity that perhaps the rest of the film's more simplistic romanticism doesn't deserve.

Full Review | Original Score: 2/5 | Oct 31, 2019

Never quite escapes the been-there-done-that feeling of Hollywood romantic cliché with sunny photography and perfectly tailored costumes to boot.

Full Review | Original Score: 2/4 | Jun 5, 2019

Frank Capra would be proud of the way Nick Cassavetes pulls at the heart strings... Have tissues at the ready.

Full Review | Original Score: 3/5 | Apr 18, 2019

The Notebook is a ghastly piece of oldie slush which is tediously orchestrated by Nick Cassavetes.

Full Review | Feb 2, 2019

The Notebook is the kind of syrupy, heightened melodrama more likely to be found in the pages of a Mills & Boon paperback than on the silver screen.

Full Review | Original Score: 2.5/5 | Feb 2, 2019

In a romance where paradise is a duck-filled pond, it helps to be mild-mannered.

Dentistry in the Renaissance could not have been more painful than watching this.

Full Review | Original Score: 1/5 | Feb 2, 2019

The Notebook is premium romantic schlock and confirms director Nick Cassavetes (Rowlands' son) as a specialist in the genre after John Q in 2002.

Two good, young performers and a couple of not-too-shabby older ones not only make The Notebook worth watching but distinguish the film as one of the year's more pleasant surprises.

Full Review | Original Score: 4/5 | Feb 2, 2019

The Notebook is a thoroughly old-fashioned romantic melodrama awash with misty-eyed sentiment as it charts the obstacles placed in the path of two young lovers from opposite sides of the social divide.

A shameless tear-jerker and as corny as they come, this retro romantic drama skilfully pushes all the right emotional buttons.

Full Review | Original Score: 3/5 | Feb 2, 2019

A honey-dipped love story with a surprisingly tart aftertaste, The Notebook is a better-than-you'd-expect adaptation of Nicholas Sparks's bestselling novel of the same name.

A story about true love that makes you cry, the kind you don't forget. [Full Review in Spanish]

Full Review | Original Score: 8.5/10 | Feb 2, 2019

What saves Notebook, or at least lifts it above itself, are the hints of hard-won grit that both Gosling and Garner inject into their characters.

Sure, The Notebook's story of first love tends toward the histrionic and self-important. But if that's case, perhaps Cassavetes, like Shakespeare, simply knows how to give the people what they want.

Full Review | Feb 7, 2018

"Your source for daily updates on current events"

The Health Benefits of Eating Grapes

The Benefits of Including Blackberries in Your Diet

Delicious and Nutritious: Why Raspberries Should be a Staple in Your Diet

Raise Your Flag | Respect Philippine Territory Stainless Steel Water Bottle with Sports Lid

The Concept of the Antichrist: Symbolism, Interpretations, and Beliefs

Blueberries: The Superfood with Incredible Health Benefits

The Incredible Health Benefits of Apples

The Nutritional Richness and Health Benefits of Strawberries

Introducing the Katipunero Eating Chicken Joy Color Morphing Mug

Why You Should Include Oranges in Your Diet

“the notebook (2004): a timeless tale of love and heartbreak” movie review.

When it comes to romantic movies, there are few that have captured the hearts of audiences quite like “The Notebook” (2004). Directed by Nick Cassavetes and based on the best-selling novel by Nicholas Sparks, this film has become a modern classic, beloved by millions around the world. With its captivating storytelling, memorable performances, and beautiful cinematography, “The Notebook” is a must-watch for any fan of romance.

A Story of Love and Fate

“The Notebook” tells the story of Noah Calhoun (played by Ryan Gosling) and Allie Hamilton (played by Rachel McAdams), two young lovers from different worlds who meet one summer in the 1940s. Despite their differences in social status, Noah and Allie embark on a passionate and tumultuous love affair that is ultimately cut short by the realities of war and societal expectations.

The film weaves together two timelines, as an elderly man named Duke (played by James Garner) recounts the story of Noah and Allie to a fellow resident at a nursing home. Through Duke’s narration, we are transported back in time to witness the intensity and depth of Noah and Allie’s love, as well as the obstacles they face along the way.

Unforgettable Performances

One of the standout aspects of “The Notebook” is the exceptional performances delivered by the cast. Ryan Gosling and Rachel McAdams bring Noah and Allie to life with such authenticity and chemistry that it’s impossible not to be swept away by their on-screen romance. Their performances are filled with raw emotion, vulnerability, and undeniable charm.

James Garner and Gena Rowlands, who portray the older versions of Noah and Allie, also deliver powerful performances that add depth and poignancy to the story. Their portrayal of a couple grappling with the challenges of aging and memory loss is both heartbreaking and heartwarming.

A Visual and Emotional Feast

“The Notebook” is not only a feast for the emotions but also for the eyes. The film’s cinematography beautifully captures the idyllic setting of the North Carolina coast, where much of the story takes place. From sweeping shots of the picturesque landscape to intimate close-ups of the characters, every frame is carefully crafted to evoke a sense of nostalgia and longing.

Furthermore, the film’s soundtrack perfectly complements the emotional journey of the characters. With a mix of original compositions and timeless classics, the music enhances the storytelling and adds an extra layer of depth to the film.

A Love Story for the Ages

“The Notebook” is more than just a typical romantic movie. It explores themes of love, sacrifice, and the power of memories. It reminds us that true love can endure even in the face of adversity and that the bonds we form can transcend time and space.

While some may dismiss “The Notebook” as a sentimental tearjerker, it is undeniable that the film has struck a chord with audiences worldwide. Its enduring popularity is a testament to its ability to touch hearts and leave a lasting impression.

Whether you’re a fan of romance or simply appreciate a well-crafted story, “The Notebook” is a film that deserves a spot on your must-watch list. It’s a timeless tale of love and heartbreak that will leave you both emotionally satisfied and longing for more.

Post navigation

Previous post.

No comments yet. Why don’t you start the discussion?

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Save my name, email, and website in this browser for the next time I comment.

The Notebook Review

25 Jun 2004

124 minutes

Notebook, The

Following the tradition of Fried Green Tomatoes, this romantic weepy relates a tale in the hope that its modern-day protagonists ù who may well have played a part in the story themselves - will be better for hearing it.

But, on film at least, this story might have been better without its modern-day protagonists, played by James Garner and Gena Rowlands (Cassavetes' mother). Garner's narration smacks of greeting-card sentiment and the Alzheimer's storyline, in which Rowlands' character has lost her memory, is oversimplified.

Thank goodness, then, for the magic created by young stars Ryan Gosling and Rachel McAdams, whose intense romance is played out with conviction and an infectious joie de vivre. Little in their journey is unexpected: you're waiting for the obstacle (after all, what self-respecting young lady in the 1940s would have been seen without two handsome suitors to compete over her?), and the solution is not hard to spot, either.

But thanks to delightful characters, careful pacing and a stirring score, this film achieves the distinction of being exceptionally moving without anyone major having to die.

Related Articles

Movies | 15 08 2024

Movies | 18 04 2016

Movies | 07 06 2015

Movies | 02 02 2010

Movies | 09 09 2008

Movies | 02 09 2004

Review: The Notebook – A Familiar, Heartbreaking Love Story

The notebook review.

Talking about The Notebook is a bit like talking about Titanic or The Princess Bride . Everyone has heard of it and usually has strong opinions about it.  So I approach this review with a certain amount of caution and respect for that fact.  The Notebook is also the Nicholas Sparks film that seems to appeal even to those who do not like his style of romance.  I am one of those people.  So without further ado, here is my review.

An old man, Duke, reads from a notebook to a fellow care home resident every day who does not seem to know him very well. It is the story of Noah, a young working class man who sees Allie, a young woman from a well-to-do family at a carnival. Immediately taken with her, he sets out to win her over. Though initially scornful of his attentions, she finds herself beginning to fall for him. The world, however, does not seem content to let them be.  In the form of disapproving parents, love rivals and illness it seeks to tear them apart.

Starring Rachel McAdams and Ryan Gosling pre-fame, with James Garner and Gena Rowlands playing the older couple, there is a fair amount of talent in this movie. James Marsden is winning as the alternative love interest whom, for once, is not hopelessly flawed to make the heroine’s choice easier. McAdams and Gosling play their roles with passion and intensity that really bring the film to life. Garner and Rowlands are more quietly heart-breaking, with the confidence that comes from decades in the industry. Commendation goes to Joan Allen for making a character that should have been wholly unlikable, utterly sympathetic.

The Notebook is a gloriously vibrant period drama and this is nowhere more obvious than in its visuals. The costumes take full advantage of the colors available during the time period and the glamour of Allie’s social class. There are also many scenes which are visually stunning like the scene when Noah rows Allie out into the middle of the lake. The music is also emotional and fast paced when it needs to be, using well beloved popular music from the time period.

RELATED POST –  Ranking the Nicholas Sparks Movie Romances

The love story is as moving and exciting as it was the first time you saw it. The romance is told well and comes across as realistic. The chemistry between Rachel McAdams and Ryan Gosling is palpable. It really sells the lasting nature of their relationship. This has made them one of the most memorable on-screen pairings of recent years.

In short, The Notebook remains excellent as a portrait of a powerful love that lasted the test of time. It works as a romance, a period drama and an exploration of how love can grow and change throughout a life. If you have yet to see The Notebook then I can thoroughly recommend it.

Content Note: There is some brief sexuality in this film and some mild profanity.

Photo Credit: New Line Cinema

OVERALL RATING

“The stuff that dreams are made of.”

ROMANCE RATING

You pierce my soul. I am half agony, half hope.

I have loved none but you.”

ARE YOU A ROMANCE FAN? FOLLOW THE SILVER PETTICOAT REVIEW:

Elinor is a writer and semi-recent graduate of English and Creative Writing at Aberystwyth University. She has been writing ever since she could hold a pen but her love affair with fiction started when the entirety of David Eddings’ 'The Belgariad' was read to her at age four. She currently has a couple of books and half a dozen short stories on the go. She spends her free time writing, analysing media and knitting very colourful scarves.

More posts by this author.

🙌 Awesome, you're subscribed!

Thanks for subscribing! Look out for your first newsletter in your inbox soon!

Get us in your inbox

Sign up to our newsletter for the latest and greatest from your city and beyond

By entering your email address you agree to our Terms of Use and Privacy Policy and consent to receive emails from Time Out about news, events, offers and partner promotions.

Awesome, you're subscribed!

The best things in life are free.

Sign up for our email to enjoy your city without spending a thing (as well as some options when you’re feeling flush).

Déjà vu! We already have this email. Try another?

Love the mag?

Our newsletter hand-delivers the best bits to your inbox. Sign up to unlock our digital magazines and also receive the latest news, events, offers and partner promotions.

• Things to Do
• Food & Drink
• Arts & Culture
• Time Out Market
• Coca-Cola Foodmarks
• Los Angeles

The Notebook

Time out says, release details.

• Duration: 100 mins

Cast and crew

• Director: Nick Cassavetes
• Rachel McAdams
• Ryan Gosling
• Gena Rowlands

Been there, done that? Think again, my friend.

Discover Time Out original video

• Press office
• Investor relations
• Work for Time Out
• Editorial guidelines
• Privacy notice
• Do not sell my information
• Cookie policy
• Accessibility statement
• Terms of use
• Modern slavery statement
• Manage cookies
• Advertising

Time Out Worldwide

• All Time Out Locations
• North America
• South America
• South Pacific

• Cast & crew
• User reviews

Metacritic reviews

The notebook.

• 80 Dallas Observer Luke Y. Thompson Dallas Observer Luke Y. Thompson If you're the sort who enjoys shedding such in darkened theaters, your must-see summer movie has arrived.
• 75 Chicago Tribune Michael Wilmington Chicago Tribune Michael Wilmington May be corny, but it's also absorbing, sweet and powerfully acted. It's a film about falling in love and looking back on it, and it avoids many of the genre's syrupy dangers.
• 63 ReelViews James Berardinelli ReelViews James Berardinelli Sadly, the elements that made the book special did not survive the transition to the screen.
• 60 Variety Robert Koehler Variety Robert Koehler A determined and often affecting romance that doesn't speak down to audiences.
• 60 Village Voice Jessica Winter Village Voice Jessica Winter Amid the sticky-sweet swamp of Jeremy Leven's script, Rowlands and Garner emerge spotless and beatific, lending a magnanimous credibility to their scenes together. These two old pros slice cleanly through the thicket of sap-weeping dialogue and contrivance, locating the terror and desolation wrought by the cruel betrayals of a failing mind.
• 58 Entertainment Weekly Lisa Schwarzbaum Entertainment Weekly Lisa Schwarzbaum You know what you want to see if you want to see The Notebook...You want to see girls in pretty 1940s dresses, soldiers in stirring World War II uniforms, handsome automobiles and equally handsome Southern landscapes. You want to see romance overcome adversity.
• 40 The Hollywood Reporter Michael Rechtshaffen The Hollywood Reporter Michael Rechtshaffen Mercilessly plodding pacing, problematic character motivations and a fundamental lack of chemistry between the two star-crossed lovers in question don't do a lot to help its cause.
• 40 The A.V. Club Scott Tobias The A.V. Club Scott Tobias Opening shots tend to say a lot about a movie, but they say everything about The Notebook, a glossy adaptation of Nicholas Sparks' four-hanky sudser.
• 40 L.A. Weekly Ella Taylor L.A. Weekly Ella Taylor From the first soft piano that accompanies white geese flying toward a humongous orange sunset, The Notebook racks up the sugary clichés till you’re screaming for mercy.
• 25 Rolling Stone Peter Travers Rolling Stone Peter Travers I have the same allergic reaction to this open faucet of tear-jerking swill as I do to the 1996 Nicholas Sparks novel that inspired it.
• See all 34 reviews on Metacritic.com
• See all external reviews for The Notebook

More from this title

More to explore, recently viewed.

Things you buy through our links may earn  Vox Media  a commission.

I Finally Watched The Notebook , and I Have Some Thoughts

We all have our cinematic blind spots, and until yesterday, The Notebook was one of mine. To a certain extent, I think it was a forgivable one: This movie has become mandatory viewing for a lot of young women (which means a lot of their boyfriends have seen it as well), but I’m a 34-year-old gay dude — it eluded me, you know? Still, I’ve watched so many movies over the last decade, like The Vow or The Fault in Our Stars , that were either influenced by The Notebook or were green-lit in some part due to its success; it seemed only fair, then, to give the Ryan Gosling/Rachel McAdams romantic drama its proper due.

Last night, on the eve of the movie’s tenth anniversary, I finally watched The Notebook for the first time. It was good, mostly! I think I get it. It’s a very handsomely made, throwback love story where the guy says he’ll love the girl until the end of time and Really Means It, and the movie remixes Titanic in a whole lot of clever ways: There’s a rich girl who wears big hats and has a snooty mom, a poor boy with blond bangs who loves her, a potent scene of old people cuddling in a bed, and flash-forward bookends that are destined to pull tears. But now that I’ve finally caught up to what you guys have been discussing for the last ten years, will you let me ask some questions and share some thoughts? There are 16 things about The Notebook that have stuck with me since I’ve seen it, and I want to know what you think about them, too.

- Why do so many of our movie love stories begin with the male lead leveling an obsessive stare at our clearly uncomfortable heroine? It happens in The Notebook , it happens in Twilight , and it happens in The Fault in Our Stars . Is this a new romantic trope? “I want a guy who will love me for the rest of my life and really creep me out at first.”

- On that note, the way Allie repeatedly insists that she doesn’t want to go out with him and the way an unrepentant Noah threatens her and says “I’m not gonna ask you again” is just a litttttttle bit  “Blurred Lines,” no?

- Obviously, Ryan Gosling got the biggest career jolt from this movie, but I feel like Rachel McAdams is unusually underrated in it; she’s so spontaneous and joyful in every scene. Gosling is not always a generous performer with his scene partners, but you can really feel him stepping outside his comfort zone with McAdams, because while he’s talking, she’ll provoke him by laughing or rolling her eyes at completely random moments. [ Editor’s Note: It’s because they’re in lovvvvve! They’re so in love, look at them! Gah, why can’t they get back together. ] You can’t say this about most actresses top-lining Nicholas Sparks romantic dramas, but she’s utterly alive in this role.

- Gosling’s good, too, and now I guess I understand why heterosexual women are so adamant about him in a way they aren’t about, like, Jake Gyllenhaal. This movie was important to them!

- Do we want to talk about Ryan Gosling’s old nose in this movie? I’m just asking you, because I’m not going to say a word about it.

- I will say this, though: Throughout this movie, Noah’s handwriting is impeccable .

- “If you’re a bird, I’m a bird.” Was this a thing? I’m vaguely aware that this might have been a thing. It’s like the “If you jump, I jump” of The Notebook , right? I love that the most iconic line from The Notebook sounds like something you might say in an improv class.

- I also like how in the scene where Allie and Noah are about to make love for the first time in an abandoned, dusty spider-building, they get undressed so far apart, like an unhappily married rich couple sitting at opposite ends of a long dining table. I must say, though, that their reactions to seeing each other’s uncovered junk are priceless .

- Can we talk about Allie’s dad in the movie? I was expecting him to be played by, like, Dylan Baker or somebody, not a fucking Mario Brother dressed up like Hugh Hefner. What was up with that mustache and his whole vibe? It was so weird! (Side note: I was excited to discuss the dad today because surely everyone has spent the last ten years wondering why that character was so odd, but then I mentioned him to one of my female co-workers who has seen this movie several times, and she IM’d me: “i have zero memory of the dad. what is wrong with you?” Ryan Gosling–related tunnel vision is a powerful thing!)

- Boy, they killed off E right as that war began. He just got there!

- Guys, I was just thrilled when James Marsden showed up as the Other Love Interest. It’s a little funny, because our narrator muses that “Allie was surprised by how fast she fell in love with him,” and it’s like, Bitch, are you not paying attention to what’s in this getting-to-know-you montage right now ? Because all I see is James Marsden in an officer’s uniform, James Marsden in a tux, and James Marsden wearing a tan turtleneck while riding a horse on the beach . If Allie was that surprised to fall in love with him, I was expecting rapid-onset blindness as a third-act twist.

- Ryan Gosling with the hair and the beard and the rain? It’s a good look.

- I kind of expected more conflict at the end? Allie goes off to see Noah for the first time since they were teenagers, and after they bone and confess their love for one another, you kind of expect that everyone in their lives will conspire to keep these lovebirds apart. But no one does! Literally every character, from Noah’s mistress to Allie’s mother and fiancé, tells them, “You guys should really get together.” And then they do, and that’s the end of their love story. Nobody put up any sort of fight? I was anticipating some real Thorn Birds– level, forbidden-love shit, but in the end, these lovers weren’t all that star-crossed.

- Also, the main knock against choosing Ryan Gosling’s character was that he’s poor, but at the end of the movie, he’s a heterosexual 24-year-old who wears a lot of clean Henleys and owns beautiful beachfront property. I don’t think this was a hard choice.

- I used to work at a site that had a recurring feature called “My Favorite Scene,” where we’d ask celebrities to discuss the movie scenes they loved best. The big joke among us was that a solid 70 percent of young actresses always gravitated to The Notebook , and the scene they tended to pick was, “The whole movie, I guess.”

- I asked my boyfriend if he wanted to watch the movie with me and he replied, “I’ve already seen it and it’s stupid,” then went into the other room. Later, he came out, watched the last 15 minutes of the movie, and bawled.

• the notebook
• ryan gosling
• first watch
• rachel mcadams

Most Viewed Stories

• Cinematrix No. 168: September 10, 2024
• SNL Adds Three New Cast Members for Season 50
• All the Winners (and EGOTs) of the Creative Arts Emmys
• The Double Dishonesty of Chimp Crazy
• Ron Howard Has Finally Lost His Mind
• The New Brad and Angelina

Editor’s Picks

Most Popular

What is your email.

This email will be used to sign into all New York sites. By submitting your email, you agree to our Terms and Privacy Policy and to receive email correspondence from us.

Sign In To Continue Reading

Create your free account.

Password must be at least 8 characters and contain:

• Lower case letters (a-z)
• Upper case letters (A-Z)
• Numbers (0-9)
• Special Characters (!@#$%^&*)

As part of your account, you’ll receive occasional updates and offers from New York , which you can opt out of anytime.

Get news & reviews in your inbox

• Prime Video
• Documentary
• Producers Corner
• Watch Lists
• More Than A Movie Night
• It’s Dove Approved – Family Movie Trivia Game
• Dove Ratings
• Privacy Policy

The Notebook

Dove review.

Allie’s husband demonstrates a life-long commitment to his spouse “in sickness or in health.” He never leaves her side, and his unfailing devotion and love for her is an inspiring portrait of marriage. The film did unfortunately contain an intimate sex scene between a man and woman outside of the context of marriage. There is some crude language and profanity, but it is moderate compared to many PG-13 films. The overall moral content of the film is less than admirable but is also comparatively mild.

Dove Rating Details

More information, film information, dove content.

Faith Film Producer DeVon Franklin Steps in Front of the Camera for ‘Jesus Revolution’

Cyrano: Love is a Verb

Redeeming Love: Grace Rising Up Out of the Dirt

Filmmakers Highlight the Hope and Heroism in “Gi...

The Notebook: 7+ Thoughts I Had While Rewatching The Ryan Gosling And Rachel McAdams Movie

If you're a bird, I'm a bird.

The Notebook is one of the best romantic movies of all time. It’s a beautiful tale of an unbreakable love story between people of different social classes. On paper, they would never work. However, their love is powerful enough to break any barriers that stand in their way. Ryan Gosling and Rachel McAdams star as Noah and Allie, the main protagonists of this love story.

I wouldn’t say The Notebook ranks in my top 5 favorite romantic movies of all time, but it’s definitely in the top 20. The undeniable chemistry between Gosling and McAdams makes it a must-watch for all romance movie fans. Because I haven’t seen a romantic movie that I’ve really loved in a while, I decided to revisit some of my favorite movie romances, and that included a rewatching of The Notebook. I have some thoughts.

Warning The Notebook spoilers ahead. Proceed with caution.

Ryan Gosling And Rachel McAdams Give Some OF Their Best Performances In The Notebook 

Ryan Gosling and Rachel McAdams are both really good actors. I would even argue that Gosling is one of the best actors who hasn’t won an Oscar. While rewatching The Notebook , I couldn’t help but be even more convinced of this opinion. Gosling and McAdams completely convince us that they’re in love. Not only that, you see how much they put into these performances.

In the scene where Noah hears Allie’s parents calling him trash, how can your heart not break watching Noah react to it? In the scene where Allie pretends to be a bird, how can you not feel her joy? You feel all of these characters’ emotions because McAdams, Gosling, and the entire cast give really strong performances.

For two-plus hours, Gosling becomes Noah and McAdams becomes Allie. I’ve seen many Rachel McAdams movies and many Ryan Gosling movies and Allie and Noah are some of their most beloved characters because of how good they are in these roles. The Notebook is one of the best Rachel McAdams movies and one of the best Ryan Gosling movies . They’re both really outstanding in this film. 

The Costumes And Makeup Departments Are The MVPs Of This Movie 

The Notebook starts with Allie and Noah as teens, then ends with them as older adults. At some point, they’re in their mid-20s. The oldest versions of Allie and Noah are played by James Garner and Gena Rowlands. The rest of the ages are played by Rachel McAdams and Ryan Gosling. They completely convince you that they’re teens at the start of the movie. This is partly because of their acting skills, and partly because of the makeup department.

CINEMABLEND NEWSLETTER

Your Daily Blend of Entertainment News

They tone back the makeup with McAdams to give her a fresh face to portray teen Allie. Clean-shaven Ryan Gosling looks like a teen. Once he has facial hair, he becomes an adult Noah who has seen some things. As Allie ages, more makeup appears to be added, which makes her look older and more sophisticated. The makeup is really subtle but completely transforms these characters.

The 1940s fashion is really gorgeous in The Notebook. Every one of Allie’s outfits, I would love to steal. They’re just so fabulous. The costume designers also use the clothes in very interesting ways. I noticed that the outfit that Allie and Noah wear when they meet, mimics the clothing that they’re wearing as older adults, at least in terms of colors. The Notebook is one of those movies where it’s clear that multiple elements, including costumes and makeup, work in harmony to make this such a memorable film. 

The Notebook Breakup Scene Is One of The Best In History

Thankfully, The Notebook isn’t one of the great breakup movies , because that would totally ruin the vibe of the film. However, the film has one of the greatest movie breakup scenes. Many adore The Notebook because of all the major declarations of love, the steamy sex scene, and the enticing chemistry between the lead characters. I love all those things as well, but I also really like the main breakup scene.

It starts with Noah having his heart broken by hearing what Allie’s parents think of him. Then it leads to him ending it. We see every emotion in that scene, from anger to desperation to confusion to fear to hopelessness. It’s brilliant. Then we see parallel elements of that scene in the part where Noah fights for them to be together, but Allie doesn’t want to break Lon’s ( James Marsden ) heart.

The Notebook breakup scene just feels so realistic and raw.

The Drama And Romance Always Sweeps Me Away 

Until rewatching The Notebook , I didn’t realize how much the film engulfs you. The two-plus hours pass fast because I’m so drawn into this story and this world. I know what is going to happen, but I can’t look away. It’s one of those rare films that really takes hold of you from start to finish. You feel all their emotions, you suspend reality and reason, and you let your hopeless romantic side thrive.

Like Allie and Noah’s love story, The Notebook can be all-consuming. 

I Can’t Help But Feel Bad For Lon

Lon joins the list of movie boyfriends involved in a love triangle who do nothing wrong but just aren’t the right guy. Sometimes the other guy in these types of movies sucks. Lon is not one of those guys. Allie not only cheats on him, but she does it while completely forgetting about him for days. According to my calculation, Allie and Noah only dated for a few months (before getting married and starting their life together), but she dated Lon for at least three years before completely dumping him.

Even if you love Allie and Noah together, you kind of have to think that they were quite terrible for how they treated their exes. At least poor Martha (Jamie Brown) could see their romance as a window of what could be for her. We don’t even completely get Lon’s reaction to the breakup.

For all we know, the Allie breakup could have been Lon’s villain origin story. I know that viewers aren’t supposed to hate Allie and Noah, because we’re supposed to view this all as them being so in love that they would always only want each other. However, love shouldn’t be an excuse to just cheat and neglect your fiancé.

Is The Notebook Ending Tragic Or Happy? 

When I originally saw The Notebook , I considered it a happy ending. They were able to live their lives together and even leave the world together. However, watching it again, I couldn’t help but wonder if this isn’t exactly a happy ending. Yes, they got to die together, but it’s pretty terrible that they reached the stage in their life where their bodies began to betray them. That’s part of life and aging, but it’s also a pretty downer way to end a love story. Realistic? Probably? Downer? Absolutely.

The sadness of The Notebook ending makes it easy to see why some versions don’t show it. It’s definitely a happy ending that they got to live a full life together and were able to leave the world together. The tragedy comes with the whole aging process and how it can disrupt even a beautiful love story, even if only temporarily. 

Other Thoughts 

The Notebook rewatch sparked so many thoughts, some silly, some profound, and more just ramblings. Here are my other thoughts.

• I think I just really love period piece love stories. Something about them makes everything more tragic and heightened. 
• The Notebook really has a thing for birds. I’m assuming they’re a metaphor for Allie feeling caged by parents, and society, but finally being able to fly free at the end. 
• I love writing letters, but even I find the idea of 365 letters kind of tedious. 
• I had completely erased the war part of The Notebook from my memory.  It’s so quick that it’s barely in there. 
• I would love a prequel about Allie’s mom and her ex. Basically, Noah and Allie, but one that doesn’t work out. 
• The Notebook has so many great quotes. 
• Rachel McAdams’ lungs must have hurt with all the random screaming moments in the movie. 

You can find The Notebook and plenty of other great romance movies on HBO Max . 

Stream The Notebook on HBO Max . 

Spent most of my life in various parts of Illinois, including attending college in Evanston. I have been a life long lover of pop culture, especially television, turned that passion into writing about all things entertainment related. When I'm not writing about pop culture, I can be found channeling Gordon Ramsay by kicking people out the kitchen.

The Best '90s Movies For 32 Actors

Florence Pugh Is Pretty In Pink At We Live In Time Premiere, And It's The First Time I Wanted Barbiecore Back All Summer

Jessica Knight Left The NCIS Team In Season 21’s Finale, And The Showrunner Revealed That’s Created A ‘Chain Reaction’ In Season 22

Most Popular

• 2 The Best '90s Movies For 32 Actors
• 3 'Listen, You People:' Hannah Waddingham Gets Hilariously Real About Those Ted Lasso Season 4 Reports
• 4 Florence Pugh Is Pretty In Pink At We Live In Time Premiere, And It's The First Time I Wanted Barbiecore Back All Summer
• 5 House Of Wax Cast: What The Stars Of The 2005 Horror Movie Remake Are Up To Now

The Notebook Review

Your changes have been saved

Email is sent

Email has already been sent

Please verify your email address.

You’ve reached your account maximum for followed topics.

Rebel Ridge Review: This Is How You F*cking Do It

Secret invasion star is still up for mcu return after controversial character death, james earl jones, star wars' darth vader & cinema legend, dies aged 93.

I made a New Year's resolution this year, and after seeing The Notebook , it's a resolution I wish I didn't make, rather, a resolution I didn't stick to. My resolution this year was to at least make an effort to see EVERY film that I possibly can, given the limitations of the options around me. These limitations basically leave me with blockbusters, comedies and movies like The Notebook . Like most guys, I usually strayed from the "chick flick" genre, unless my methods of hypnosis managed to persuade my way into a date of some sort...so yeah, basically I didn't see any chick flicks. But, a resolution is a resolution, and with a girl I know wanting to see The Notebook , off I went. Damn resolutions...I'm gonna resolve to steal a Ferrari next year or something...

The movie starts out in a nursing home of some sort, and an elderly man, "Duke" (Garner) on his way to his daily ritual of reading a story out of a notebook to an elderly woman, Allie. It's a story of young love and heartbreak, separation, moving on and all that crap. Of course, this story seems quite familiar to Allie...blah blah blah. If you've seen the trailer, you don't need Jedi-like foresight to figure out what's going to happen here.

This flick borrows from so many different movies it's not even worth mentioning a few. There is the "from two different worlds" element, with the rich girl and poor boy falling in love, despite the rich parents dissaproval. There is a little bit of the war/"I'm never going to see him/her again" aspect, somewhat taken from Cold Mountain and many other movies. Plus we get different bits of 50 First Dates/Memento and sappy elements from so many chick flicks I can't even begin to count. It almost seems as if the title alludes to novelist Nicholas Sparks' notes on different flicks he's watched, which, in turn, resulted in his novel this movie is based on. I haven't read the novel, so I don't know how faithful the movie is to the book, but it doesn't matter. This movie just doesn't have anything going for it, as far as originality is concerned. True, there are some interesting little twists that in the context of the movie are well-done. But the twists themselves have, again, been done many times before.

The movie does have a few good things going for it, though, and they are mainly from the performances. Ryan Gosling, a relative newcomer best known for his role in the underrated Murder by Numbers, gives a fine performance in his first true leading role as Noah. He's very diverse, portraying the high's of his affection for Allie and the low's of his dull, morose life after their separation. Rachel McAdams, another newcomer fresh off shadowing Lindsey Lohan in Mean Girls, does a great job also as Allie. She is wonderful at showing both sides of her persona: the free-spirit when with Noah, and slightly reserved socialite when with new beau Lon (Marsden). James Garner does a very nice job as "Duke" and Gena Rowlands is superb as the elderly Allie. And Joan Allen does a fantastic job as Allie's mean-spirited Mom, as well.

But, acting aside, there is nothing else really redeeming about this movie. The script was written by Jeremy Leven, whose dicey resume should be a warning sign anyway (See: Alex and Emma, Crazy as Hell, whatever the hell that is). I suppose he should be given credit for being consistently predictable, and putting old twists in different contexts. The dialogue, for the most part, isn't too bad also, but you can see everything coming 86 miles away. And it seemed he couldn't decide where to end this flick either. There are a few different spots that could've easily served as a decent ending, but he kept going and going, trying to squeeze as much, pardon the pun, sap out of the proverbial tree as humanly possible. Sure, there are a few purely touching moments, but overall, the material has been used so much before that it took everything out of it.

Director Nick Cassavettes, son of actor/filmmaker John Cassavetes and Gena Rowlands, doesn't too bad a job at the helm here. It's a very colorful film (literally) and he uses some beautiful sets. The problem is I couldn't really focus on his work because the story was so bothersome. Still, this movie won't help him to break through his streak of mediocrity (See: John Q, She's So Lovely).

The Notebook is a movie about love conquering all, and all that crap. The girls will dry their eyes, while the guys will roll theirs. The acting and directing are well-done, but it's an incredibly predictable, unoriginal and dull yarn that should've stayed on the page rather than on the screen.

• Movie and TV Reviews

Screen Rant

11 biggest changes the notebook makes to the 1996 book.

Your changes have been saved

Email is sent

Email has already been sent

Please verify your email address.

You’ve reached your account maximum for followed topics.

The Notebook: 10 Best Quotes, Ranked

Is the notebook based on a true story, the notebook: 5 things that wouldn't happen now (& 5 that could).

• The Notebook movie changes the narrative structure of the book, starting Duke's story off with Noah and Allie as teenagers rather than as adults like in the book.
• The movie shows a lot more of Noah and Allie's early relationship during their first summer together, which is only summarized in the book.
• At the end of the movie, Noah and Allie die in each other's arms, which is not how the book ends.

The 2004 romance drama The Notebook brought Nicholas Sparks' 1996 novel of the same name to the big screen, but the film adaptation made some key changes to the book. The Notebook tells the story of two teenagers, Noah (Ryan Gosling) and Allie (Rachel McAdams) , from different socioeconomic backgrounds who share a summer romance in 1940, and later reunite after years apart. At a nursing home in the present, an elderly man named Duke (James Garner) reads the story aloud from a notebook to a woman with dementia (Gena Rowlands), who are later revealed to be Noah and Allie.

The Notebook launched Gosling and McAdams into stardom and quickly became one of the most iconic romance movies of all time. Directed by Nick Cassavetes and adapted for the screen by Jeremy Leven and Jan Sardi, the film includes some minor differences from the book, like Allie's hair and eye color and last name, and the name of the fictional North Carolina town where The Notebook takes place (New Bern becomes Seabrook). However, the movie also makes major changes to things like the narrative structure, certain details and events, and, most notably, the ending of The Notebook .

The Notebook was the third film adaptation of a Nicholas Sparks novel, after Message in a Bottle in 1999 and A Walk to Remember in 2002.

Every Nicholas Sparks Movie Ranked Worst To Best

Nicholas Sparks adaptations have made up a popular subgenre of romance movies since the 1990s, but not every novel-to-film translation ranks the same.

11 The Notebook Movie Changes The Narrative Structure Of The Book

Duke's story starts with noah and allie as adults in the book.

The Notebook movie and book both open at the nursing home in the present day, where an elderly Noah goes by Duke to avoid confusing Allie. "Duke" begins reading the story from the notebook to Allie (though she is not identified yet) that she's heard many times. In the book, Duke's story begins when Noah is already 31 years old and almost finished restoring the Windsor Plantation house. Noah and Allie's first summer together and years apart are only revealed through their own memories and recollections to each other.

However, in The Notebook movie, Duke's story begins on the night of the carnival on June 6, 1940, when Noah and Allie first met as teenagers while her family was in town for the summer. From there, it continues in chronological order, with interjections to the present to show Allie's reactions to the story, Duke's doctor's appointment, and their children's visit. The movie jumps between the past and present while Duke is telling the story, but the book doesn't return to the present until his story is over.

10 The Notebook Movie Shows A Lot More Of Noah & Allie's Early Relationship

The book summarizes their summer together instead of showing it play out.

Because Duke's story starts with Noah and Allie as adults and only reveals details of the years in retrospect, the book hardly depicts their initial relationship as teenagers. As Noah reflects on his past, the narrator simply summarizes the events of the summer of 1932 (not 1940, like in the movie) when they first fell in love. More details are revealed as they reminisce together, but it doesn't give as full a picture of their young love and focuses much more on their reunion.

The Notebook movie actually shows the inception of Noah and Allie's relationship and depicts their romance blossoming by adding a bunch of new scenes, including a montage of their summer together. Iconic moments like Noah hanging from the Ferris wheel and the two of them laying down and dancing in the street do not originally appear in the book. In addition, memorable lines like, " you just tell me what you want and I'll be that for you ," " if you're a bird, I'm a bird," and "get in the water! " were written for the movie.

The Notebook is full of quotable lines, after all, it is based on the Nicholas Sparks novel. Here are the best quotes from the film.

9 Noah And Allie Don't Have Sex With Each Other Until They're Adults In The Notebook Movie

In the book, they lose their virginities to each other as teenagers.

In the book, it is revealed that Noah and Allie lost their virginities to each other as teenagers when Noah brought Allie to the abandoned house (that he later restores). This same scene occurs in the movie, except they don't quite get that far. They take off their clothes and almost have sex, but Allie starts getting in her head and keeps asking Noah a bunch of questions. They start to kiss again but get interrupted by Noah's friend Fin, who tells them that Allie's panicked parents are have sent the police out to look for her.

They don't get another opportunity to have sex again until they reunite years later as adults. In The Notebook movie, Noah and Allie's first time having sex is a much bigger deal because they waited so long , so it's more of a culmination of their lingering feelings for each other. However, before they have sex as adults in the book, Allie tells Noah he's still the only man she's ever been with sexually, including her fiancé, Lon.

8 Noah & Allie Get In A Fight Before She Leaves Town & Don't Get To Say Goodbye In The Notebook Movie

Noah doesn't find out allie left town until after she's gone.

Noah and Allie's parting is much more dramatic in The Notebook movie. In the book, Allie simply leaves at the end of the summer as planned, and Noah watches her go without a fight. However, onscreen, the couple get in a fight after Noah hears Allie's parents forbidding her from seeing him anymore because he's lower class. Allie refuses to obey their orders and runs after Noah. They don't officially break up, but they end on bad terms.

The next morning, Allie's parents tell her they're leaving town early. She goes to the lumberyard to say goodbye to Noah, but he's not there. She asks Fin to tell Noah that she loves him and she's sorry, but Fin believes it's over and tells her to " let it go. " Upon his return, Noah finds out Allie left and rushes to her house, hoping to catch her, but she's already gone. They are forced to leave things unresolved for years in The Notebook movie , which creates a lot more tension when they reunite.

The 2000s movie The Notebook is known for its sad, romantic plot, and Nicholas Sparks was motivated to write his popular novel based on a real couple.

7 Noah Acquires The Money To Restore The House Differently In The Notebook Movie

Noah's dad doesn't give him the money to buy the house in the book.

In the book, when Noah first moves to New Jersey (not Atlanta, like in the movie), he gets a job at a scrapyard separating scrap metal for a company owned by a man named Mr. Goldman. He ends up working for Mr. Goldman for eight years, during which he got promoted and started " running the entire operation ." After the war starts and Noah enlists in the army, Mr. Goldman gives him a small percentage share of the scrapyard to thank him for his hard work.

After Goldman dies, Noah receives a check for $70,000 which he uses to buy and restore the Windsor Plantation house. However, in The Notebook movie, upon Noah's return from the war, his father tells him he sold his house and gives Noah the money from the sale to buy his dream house. Along with his GI bill, Noah's able to get a loan from the bank to purchase and fix up the house just how Allie described it when they were young.

6 Noah Never Tries To Look For Allie During Their Years Apart In The Notebook Movie

He does see her on the street, though, which doesn’t happen in the book.

In the book, three years after sending his last letter, Noah decides to go to Winston-Salem (not Charleston, like in the movie) where Allie’s parents lived to try to find her. He discovers that her father left his firm and they moved someplace else, and there was no forwarding address where he could contact her. After that, he never tries to look for her again.

In The Notebook movie, Noah never goes looking for Allie after she leaves town that summer. However, after buying the house, he does see her walking on the street while he’s in Charleston to get his building plans approved. He sprints off the bus to go find her and sees her kissing Lon through a restaurant window. This moment does not occur in the book, and Noah doesn't find out about Lon until Allie tells him during her visit.

5 Noah's Friend Gus and Dog Clem Do Not Appear In The Notebook Movie

These two characters from the book were removed from the movie.

In the book, adult Noah has a three-legged hound dog named Clementine, or "Clem," who keeps him company. Noah also describes Gus, " a seventy-year-old Black man who live[s] down the road, " as his " best friend these days " in the book. Gus has four children and eleven grandchildren and comes over a couple of nights a week to have a drink and chat with Noah, who's " come to regard [Gus] as family ." Neither Clem nor Gus appear in The Notebook movie at all.

4 The Notebook Movie's Famous Rain Scene Combines Two Scenes From The Book

The letter reveal and rainstorm are two separate scenes in the book.

One of the most iconic scenes in The Notebook movie is when Allie confronts Noah in the rain about why he didn't write her after she left. He tells her, " I wrote you 365 letters. I wrote you every day for a year ," and that it " still isn't over. " Realizing that neither one ever stopped loving the other, they passionately kiss and go inside to make love for the first time. This moment is a lot more significant in the movie because of how they left things.

This dramatic scene in The Notebook movie actually combines two separate scenes from the book , neither of which is as intense. Noah brings up the letters in the book, pointing out that Allie never answered any of them. When she's surprised that he wrote her, he informs her that he wrote her " dozens " of letters (not 365) " once a month " (not every day) over " two years " (not just one), but never got a reply. Allie realizes her mother must've hidden them as Noah suspected, but in the movie, this isn't confirmed until she confronts her mother about it.

In a later scene in the book, they get caught in the rain and run inside to change into dry clothes and sit by the fire. Allie reveals she wrote letters to him, too, but never sent them. They do end up sleeping together after this, but it doesn't happen right away like it does in the movie.

The Notebook is one of the most popular romance films out there, but some parts of its story just wouldn't make sense today.

3 Noah & Allie Only Have Three Children In The Notebook Movie

They have five kids in the book, one of whom passed away.

In The Notebook movie, Noah and Allie's three adult children, Mary Allen, Maggie, and Edmond, and two of their grandchildren, Davanee and Noah Jr., come to visit them at the nursing home. They try to convince their dad to come home, but he insists on living at the facility with Allie. In the book, Noah and Allie have five children in total , but one of their sons died at only four years old. Their other four children are named Kate, Jane, David, and Jeff. It's mentioned in the book that they do visit, but this is never shown.

2 The Notebook Movie Doesn't Show Allie's Alzheimer's Diagnosis & Journey

It is also never specified that allie's form of dementia is alzheimer's.

What drives the frame story in both The Notebook movie and book is Duke's commitment to getting Allie to remember who they are, which is why he reads their life story to her every day. In the book, Duke only contextualizes Allie's Alzheimer's disease for the reader after he finishes telling the story and Allie asks him who he is. Alternating between the past and present, he recounts for the reader when she started showing signs of the disease and reveals moments of their life together before and after her diagnosis through memories and letters they wrote to each other.

Because The Notebook movie switches between the past and present while Duke is still telling the story, Allie's dementia is revealed to the viewer before he finishes telling it. However, it is not specified that she has Alzheimer's. When the story is finally over and she asks him who Allie chose in the end, the movie flashes back one last time to show that Allie left Lon and chose Noah.

Duke doesn't tell her this, though, and it's then that she briefly remembers who he is and that this is their story. After she forgets him again, Duke looks through photos of them over the years. Beyond these photos, The Notebook movie never shows Noah and Allie's life together after she chose him over Lon, including her diagnosis and the years afterward.

1 Noah & Allie Die At The End Of The Notebook Movie

The movie makes a major change to the book's ending.

Possibly the biggest change The Notebook movie makes to the book is how it ends. After Allie forgets Noah again after briefly remembering him, the book ends with Duke/Noah sneaking into Allie's room. They share a romantic moment together as Allie miraculously remembers him again immediately upon waking up. While he is aware that neither of them has much time left, they are both still alive by the end of the book.

While there is an alternate ending of The Notebook on some streaming services, in the original version, Noah and Allie die in each other's arms at the end of The Notebook movie after promising to " go " together. A nurse finds their embracing bodies and her reaction indicates that they've passed on together. By changing Noah and Allie's fate, The Notebook movie gives their story a different kind of closure.

The Notebook

Not available

The Notebook

Telling of 13-year-old twin boys ( László Gyémánt and András Gyémánt ) who endure the harsh punishments of World War II’s final stretch in rural Hungary, János Szász ’s “ The Notebook ” is a well-crafted but otherwise undistinguished and tedious entry in a long line of European films that make a grotesque show of war’s horrors, often viewed through the lens of childhood’s disabused innocence. Such films, whatever their quality, so often end up in U.S. art houses and the Oscars’ Best Foreign Film sweepstakes, it’s tempting to suspect there’s a single factory stamping them out according to formula.

The most novel thing about “The Notebook” (not to be confused with the Ryan Gosling vehicle of the same title) is how lumpy, labored and relentlessly episodic its narrative is. If one went into it knowing nothing of its origins, the film’s lack of dramatic structure might suggest a singularly inept screenwriting exercise that somehow made it into production. In fact, it’s close to impossible to imagine this movie being made had it been based on an original screenplay rather than a well-regarded novel, “Le Grand Cahier,” by Agota Kristof , a Hungarian who writes in French.

Published in 1986 and obviously descended from “ The Tin Drum ,” “The Painted Bird” and the like, Kristof’s tale (here scripted by her, Szász and András Szekér ) explores the not altogether novel idea of war’s brutalizing effects by focusing not on its military center but the civilian periphery. Once air raids have made city life too perilous, the twins’ mother (Gyöngyvér Bognár) takes them to the countryside and deposits them with their grandmother (Piroska Molnar), an abusive alcoholic known to locals as “the Witch.” Granny will make sure that, for the boys, war will be hell on the home front too.

With both of their parents having disappeared in different directions, the twins react to their harsh new circumstances with an orgy of purposeful masochism. Deciding they must toughen themselves up to meet the cruelties that are surely coming, they starve themselves and attack their bodies in various ways, including cutting themselves with a knife and pouring alcohol over the wounds.

There’s an emotional component to this Spartan regimen too. Seeking to quench all weakness in themselves, the boys read the Bible’s accounts of ancient brutalization and, obeying a command from their father, begin to keep a notebook recording the war’s hardships as unsentimentally as possible. This notebook almost surely is a device more suitable to a novel than a film, where it seems both extraneous and contrived.

After establishing the twins’ campaign of self-discipline, which occupies the tale’s initial section, the film’s narrative often feels shambling and aleatory, centered less on the boys’ development than on their encounters with random people who seem like they might have been drawn from a novelists’ database of stock characters, WWII division.

There’s an epicene Nazi officer ( Ulrich Thomsen ) who is of course a pedophile. There’s a neighbor girl with a hairlip ( Orsolya Toth ), who predictably mutates from taunting enemy to fast friend. There’s a friendly Jewish craftsman, a corrupt priest and a pro-Nazi young woman who strips the boys, takes them into her bath and masturbates using their feet—the kind of soft kink that’s all but inevitable in a genre that’s built on various sorts of vicarious prurience.

No less standard, there’s a passing invocation of the Holocaust, which takes the form of a scene almost identical to one in last year’s “ The Book Thief ,” an equally bad but far glossier film: Scores of bedraggled, sad-eyed Jews being shepherded down a village street toward their inescapable doom.

One reason all this adds up to so little is that the twins are flat and uninteresting characters to begin with and they don’t grow as the story unfolds. Ditto for Granny and the other secondary characters. Another problem is that certain incidents in the film are downright unbelievable or risible. These range from a grave that is dug in hard ground in what seems like minutes to a claim that a girl who dies from being raped by marauding soldiers “at least died happy.” Really?

Finally, an objection about what happens to the brothers at the end of the film, which I won’t reveal except to say it seems to contradict very basic things we’ve been told about them earlier. Coming out of a screening of the film, this reviewer encountered a group of folks complaining that the ending “makes no sense.” One, however, opined that it was perhaps “symbolic,” which would seem to be the case. Kristof’s novel is actually the first volume of a trilogy in which the two subsequent volumes trace the contrasting fates of the brothers in the post-war period. So the gambit, which sets up the story’s next stages, may have a kind of justifiability as a literary conceit. Yet it flies against the fundamental realism of film, where it’s always a sin to sacrifice common-sense believability and character consistency to high-flown rhetorical “symbolism.”

Godfrey Cheshire

Godfrey Cheshire is a film critic, journalist and filmmaker based in New York City. He has written for The New York Times, Variety, Film Comment, The Village Voice, Interview, Cineaste and other publications.

• András Gyémánt as
• Ulrich Thomsen as
• Piroska Molnár as Grandmother
• Ulrich Matthes as
• László Gyémánt as
• Agota Kristof
• András Szekér
• János Szász

Director of Photography

• Christian Berger

Leave a comment

Now playing.

The Last of the Sea Women

The Wild Robot

We Live in Time

Look Into My Eyes

The Front Room

Matt and Mara

The Thicket

The Mother of All Lies

The Paragon

My First Film

Latest articles.

TIFF 2024: The Room Next Door, Hard Truths

TIFF 2024: Young Werther, Addition, My Father’s Daughter

TIFF 2024: Table of Contents

TIFF 2024: Daniela Forever, Can I Get a Witness?, Ick

The best movie reviews, in your inbox.