The Notebook

Julia Hanchuk

Mrs. Lodge

AP Language and Composition

12, February 2012

The Notebook Review

            Being so close to Valentine’s Day love is on many people’s mind.  The Notebook is one of those classic love stories that never seems to get old, no matter how many times you watch it.  The movie is directed by Nick Cassavetes and based off romantic novelist Nicholas Sparks. The heartwarming love story between Allie and Noah, played by Rachel McAdams and Ryan Gosling has audiences begging for more.

            Based in South Carolina in the 1940s, Allie is a wealthy 17 year old girl with high society parents. While Noah is poor boy working hard to make minimum wage. The movie opens with an older man reading a love story to a sick woman in a nursing home. He starts off by reading about two young kids (Allie and Noah) who meet at a town carnival. Allie and Noah spend several weeks together where they fall passionately in love with one another. For the entire summer they spend every waking minute together. Allies parents disapprove of their love because of their economic and societal differences. Allie had no choice but to leave Noah and go to college in New York.

            The summer they spent together was more than just a summer fling to both of them, so while she is in New York Noah writes 365 letters to her, which she never receives. Noah spent every day for a year fixing up an old house for Allie and him, waiting for a year for a response. He never got the response. 7 long years passed until fate brought them back together when Allie saw a picture of Noah and the house in the news paper. When they finally are reunited Allie is already engaged to a former soldier and must pick between the two.

            The Notebook is filled with many ups and downs bringing audiences on an emotional rollercoaster. Nicholas Spark, also the writer of A Walk to Remember, has yet to fail in grasping the hearts of viewers. A love story that has audiences laughing and crying within minutes but still has the audience rooting for the couple says a lot, much of that has to do with the actors. Rachel McAdams and Ryan Gosling were the perfect people for these roles. “Each brings freshness to these characters,” (Murray). McAdams and Gosling are able to portray the characters with such passion and volume.

            The Notebook is one of those movies that you able to watch over and over again. Each time you watch it you fall deeper love with the characters and the story. McAdams and Gosling are able to portray their characters with such passion and volume. The Notebook is one of those movies that you are able to watch over and over again. Each time you watch it you fall deeper love with the characters and the story. Every time you watch the movie you find some new that you didn’t see before.

            All in all, The Notebook defines what a great classic love story is, in relation to definition of love being “a profoundly tender, passionate affection for another person” (Love). A story that is able to appeal to the audience’s emotions, leaving them wanted more and is something that you can watch many times without getting bored. Though this movie is not a fit for everyone, it is recommended for all to see, who love to be in love.

Works Cited

Love. (n.d.). Retrieved February 2012, 2012, from Dictionary.com: http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/love

Murray, R. (n.d.). "The Notebook" Movie Review. Retrieved Feburary 12, 2012, from movies.about.com: http://movies.about.com/od/thenotebook/a/notebook062504.htm