Two young lovers (Ryan Gosling and Rachel McAdams) are torn apart by war and class differences in the 1940s in this adaptation of Nicholas Sparks’s best-selling novel. Their story is told by a man (James Garner) who, years later, reads from a notebook while he visits a woman in a nursing home (Gena Rowlands). Nick Cassavetes directs this heart-tugging romance about the sacrifices people will make to hang on to their one true love.

I want to go on record and let my readers know I do not have anything against movies classified as “chick flicks.” I enjoy all types of different movies. I liked “The Proposal (2009)” starring Sandra Bullock and Ryan Reynolds. I really liked “Love and Other Drugs” and rated very high on this blog. Click here for my Love and Other Drugs review.

I have such an utter dislike for The Notebook. I am surprised how many women rave about this movie. I have many women friends who will post on Facebook “what part of no didn’t you understand” as their status. Same women friends love this film. I am going to guess that the person who said “no actually means yes” got the idea from this. In the beginning Noah is clearly stalking Allie. She says no quite a few times and he still doesn’t leave her alone. He even follows her when she is on a date with another man on a ferris wheel. This is not romance, it is stalking.

People see movies like this and think this is how I should act to impress someone. Our society is way too imitative. I have wasted so many hours of my life in sexual harassment training to learn two things… Don’t ever touch and no means no. This movie undermines this.

The second thing I didn’t like about this movie is how Noah dealt with his best friend getting killed in war. It didn’t seem to faze him when it happened and he never talks about it. What was the point of having this character? If his loss was more part of the story I think I would have liked it better.

The last thing I will say is I did not like the ending. I thought it was selfish and it bothered me. I do not think this is a good movie.

I am giving this one 2 stars. I recommend “The Proposal” and/or “Love and Other Drugs” over this.

Click here for the Netflix link in case you would like to add it to your queue.

All the best,

Alan
Alan Zibluk
The Film Movie Critic
http://www.filmmoviecritic.com
E-mail: the@filmmoviecritic.com