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'The Notebook" cuts between the same couple at two seasons in their lives. We see them in the urgency of young romance, and then we see them as old people, she disappearing into the shadows of Alzheimer's, he steadfast in his love. It is his custom every day to read to her from a notebook that tells the story of how they met and fell in love and faced obstacles to their happiness. Sometimes, he says, if only for a few minutes, the clouds part and she is able to remember who he is and who the story is about.

We all wish Alzheimer's could permit such moments. For a time, in the earlier stages of the disease, it does. But when the curtain comes down, there is never another act and the play is over. "The Notebook" is a sentimental fantasy, but such fantasies are not harmful; we tell ourselves stories every day, to make life more bearable. The reason we cried during " Terms of Endearment " was not because the mother was dying, but because she was given the opportunity for a dignified and lucid parting with her children. In life it is more likely to be pain, drugs, regret and despair.

The lovers are named Allie Nelson and Noah Calhoun, known as Duke. As old people they're played by Gena Rowlands and James Garner . As young people, by Rachel McAdams and Ryan Gosling . The performances are suited to the material, respecting the passion at the beginning and the sentiment at the end, but not pushing too hard; there is even a time when young Noah tells Allie, "I don't see how it's gonna work," and means it, and a time when Allie gets engaged to another man.

She's a rich kid, summering at the family's mansion in North Carolina. He's a local kid who works at the sawmill but is smart and poetic. Her parents are snobs. His father ( Sam Shepard ) is centered and supportive. Noah loves her the moment he sees her, and actually hangs by his hands from a bar on a Ferris wheel until she agrees to go out with him. Her parents are direct: "He's trash. He's not for you." One day her mother ( Joan Allen ) shows her a local working man, who looks hard-used by life, and tells Allie that 25 years ago she was in love with him. Allie thinks her parents do not love each other, but her mother insists they do; still, Allen is such a precise actress that she is able to introduce the quietest note of regret into the scene.

The movie is based on a novel by Nicholas Sparks , whose books inspired "Message in a Bottle" (1999), unloved by me, and " A Walk to Remember " (2002), which was so sweet and positive it persuaded me (as did Mandy Moore as its star). Now here is a story that could have been a tearjerker, but -- no, wait, it is a tearjerker, it's just that it's a good one. The director is Nick Cassavetes , son of Gena Rowlands and John Cassavetes , and perhaps his instinctive feeling for his mother helped him find the way past soap opera in the direction of truth.

Ryan Gosling has already been identified as one of the best actors of his generation, although usually in more hard-edged material. Rachel McAdams, who just a few months ago was the bitchy high school queen in " Mean Girls ," here shows such beauty and clarity that we realize once again how actors are blessed by good material. As for Gena Rowlands and James Garner: They are completely at ease in their roles, never striving for effect, never wanting us to be sure we get the message. Garner is an actor so confident and sure that he makes the difficult look easy, and loses credit for his skill. Consider how simply and sincerely he tells their children: "Look, guys, that's my sweetheart in there." Rowlands, best-known for high-strung, even manic characters, especially in films by her late husband, here finds a quiet vulnerability that is luminous.

The photography by Robert Fraisse is striking in its rich, saturated effects, from sea birds at sunset to a dilapidated mansion by candlelight to the texture of Southern summer streets. It makes the story seem more idealized; certainly the retirement home at the end seems more of heaven than of earth.

And the old mansion is underlined, too, first in its decay and then in its rebirth; young Noah is convinced that if he makes good on his promise to rebuild it for Allie, she will come to live in it with him, and paint in the studio he has made for her. ("Noah had gone a little mad," the notebook says.) That she is engaged to marry another shakes him but doesn't discourage him.

We have recently read much about Alzheimer's because of the death of Ronald Reagan. His daughter Patti Davis reported that just before he died, the former president opened his eyes and gazed steadily into those of Nancy, and there was no doubt that he recognized her.

Well, it's nice to think so. Nice to believe the window can open once more before closing forever.

Roger Ebert

Roger Ebert was the film critic of the Chicago Sun-Times from 1967 until his death in 2013. In 1975, he won the Pulitzer Prize for distinguished criticism.

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The Notebook (2004)

Rated PG-13 for some sexuality

123 minutes

Rachel McAdams as Young Allie Nelson

Joan Allen as Allie's Mother

Heather Wahlquist as Sara Tuffington

Gena Rowlands as Allie Nelson

James Garner as Noah Calhoun

Ryan Gosling as Young Noah Calhoun

Sylvia Jefferies as Rosemary

Nancy De Mayo as Mary Allen Calhoun

Directed by

• Nick Cassavetes
• Jeremy Leven

Based on the novel by

• Nicholas Sparks

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Sparks Notes, a Critical Analysis of Nicholas Sparks Movies: The Notebook

There are two types of bad media—in particular bad movies—that fascinate me, or at least fascinate me enough for me to want to examine them. The first is the strangely bad. The list of strangely bad movies has been codified, rewritten, and codified again so regularly that me bringing up their titles is probably pointless. Equally pointless at that point is my analysis. My love for The Room is strong enough that my tumblr is named after it, but it’s been picked over so many times that there’s not much left for me to say.

The second kind of bad that fascinates me is stuff that’s bad but is also monstrously successful. There’s this great interview with Werner Herzog where he says that the poet, the musician, the filmmaker, must not avert their eyes from what is popular, no matter how personally distasteful they find it, and that’s advice I’ve taken to heart. I mean, the Transformers film series may be some of the worst movies ever filmed, but they have collectively grossed 3.7 Billion dollars, so I think they merit some analysis.

But that’s not what I’m doing today, because while the Transformers series has grossed 3.7 Billion dollars, it’s done so loudly and in front of everyone. The subject of this article, the movies based on Nicolas Sparks’ books, have quietly managed to gross over 900 million dollars without anyone really noticing or feeling like picking them apart. Since no one else is doing it, I might as well. Thus begins my dissertation on white people kissing in the rain.

I’d originally planned on beginning this series of articles at the chronological beginning, with 1999’s  Message in a Bottle (stay tuned) but as long as I’m here, I might as well open with the movie that brought me to the party, because the impetus to write these articles came a couple months ago, on Valentine’s Day. I was traveling that day and managed to catch the first 10–15 minutes of The Notebook in an airport, and what I saw … kind of weirded me out.

I’ll do a broader plot rundown in a moment, but the movie opens with the main character Noah (Ryan Gosling) briefly running into his love interest, Allie (Rachel McAdams), at a fair. He immediately asks her out, but she refuses, for the very understandable reason that she doesn’t want to go out with him. He then follows her around the fair, waits until she’s on the ferris wheel, charges into her seat (between her and her actual date), and demands that she go out with him.

She refuses again, since he’s an unknown and possibly dangerous person, and the ferris wheel attendant demands he stop endangering all three of their lives by putting more people in a seat than the seat was designed to hold. He begins to climb down, but while hanging there, asks her to go out with him again. When she refuses, he begins to hold on by one hand, and more or less explicitly informs her that if she doesn’t agree, he will let go. Only when she agrees does he resume climbing down. Hm.

Just in case you thought I was kidding.

Hey, fun fact: Threatening to kill yourself to get what you want is textbook abusive behavior.

Before we wander into the actual analysis of the film, let’s discuss a subject that always winds up more controversial than I think it should be: The fact that the media you consume can alter your worldview. I don’t think this should be that much of a hard concept to wrap one’s brain around (I mean, it’s the basis for all advertising), but I think the problem is that when I say one thing, people often hear another, so let’s explore that.

The place this particular subject always comes up is violence, as in, “Can the media you consume make you violent?” and the answer is … well no, but it’s a complicated no. Media can’t alter your behavior that much if you’re not already a violent person. What it can do is change how violent you think the world around you is. If you’re not a violent person, that can make you more dismissive or accepting of the idea of violence, especially as an acceptable response in certain situations. If you’re already a violent person, it can make you think your violent tendencies are more normal, and make you less critical of your violent urges.

So let’s take that principal and apply it to the above. Seeing a lot of media that plays up abusive behavior as romantic (as the many, many, many thinkpieces on 50 Shades and Twilight will attest, there is no shortage of media that presents abusive behavior as romantic) can’t necessarily make you abusive. What it can do is make you less critical of abusive behavior you see in life.

Let’s be clear: No one is saying that Sparks, Twilight author Meyer, or anyone else shouldn’t be allowed to write whatever they want, but being aware and critical of what a piece of media is saying is the best way to keep from being unduly affected by it.

Okay, I am nearly 900 words into this article and I haven’t even begun talking about the movie properly, which really is par for the course with me. So, without further ado, I will begin with my examination of  The Notebook , with what I hope will become the recurring elements of each article, along with a brief introduction on what that segment is. Don’t worry; these long-winded introductions won’t be in every article.

This segment is pretty self-explanatory, just a quick recap of the plot of the movie.

In this case, The Notebook is the inspiring story of two teenagers who take their summer romance way too seriously. Okay, okay, that’s not fair. I’m sorry; it’s not that  bad. I should probably make it clear: I’m not necessarily against romance in film, and I’m not completely immune to sentimentality (I like When Harry Met Sally , Imagine Me & You, hell I’ve been known to defend Love Actually on occasion), but I dislike feeling like a movie is manipulating me, and this movie (and I assume most of Sparks’ oeuvre) is wall-to-wall manipulation.

Initially, the movie seems devoted to an old man (James Garner) reading a book to a woman with dementia (Gena Rowlands), but that’s just a framing device, as the book is devoted to Noah (Ryan Gosling) and Allie (Rachel McAdams), who are two teenagers living in the 1940s. At least, I think they’re both teenagers. They say Allie is 17, but I don’t think they ever specify Noah’s age. I hope he’s 17 or 18, otherwise it just got even weirder.

Anyway, after the aforementioned stalking, they begin dating, but because he’s poor and she’s not, her parents don’t approve, eventually driving them apart. Noah tries sending letters to her—one a day for a whole year, which is a cliché I’ve never been super fond of. I mean, wouldn’t he want her to have a chance to get the letter and write back before he sent the next one? I know mail used to go three times a day, but still.

Anyway, she eventually goes off to college, while he eventually winds up in World War 2, losing a tertiary character along the way. When he gets back, his dad sells his childhood home to help Noah buy a big house he wants to fix up. He finds out that while he was off in Europe, Allie started dating another soldier, who’s rich (and therefore her parents approve) and to whom she has just gotten engaged, causing Noah to go a little nuts.

Allie eventually goes to see him to see if she made a mistake. Of course they reconcile, of course they sleep together, and of course she eventually leaves her fiancé for him. Back in the framing device, it’s revealed that, of course, the old couple are Noah and Allie. They wander around in circles in the framing device for a bit until Noah has a heart attack, Allie another bout of dementia, and then they finally die together in bed. Credits.

Alright, I saw Titanic, too. Jeez.

Sparks famously once said that no one is writing in his genre, apparently unaware that his books are basically Mad Libs of the same plot over and over. So this section will be devoted to the specific answers to those Mad Libs.

The Obstacle:

All Sparks’ movies/books feature a generic obstacle that the romance will overcome. That’s par for the course in romance stories, but that doesn’t automatically excuse Sparks’ stories. In this case, the main obstacle is the fact that Allie’s parents don’t approve of Noah for being poor—not in any, you know, obvious way, but more on that in a second—and I guess the fact that Noah heads off to World War 2.

The Tragedy:

But of course, Sparks isn’t just writing romance novels. He’s writing tragedies … which just makes them generic tearjerkers, but never mind that. In this case, the tragedy is in the framing device (which kind of undercuts it) with Old Allie suffering from alzheimer’s and subsequent dementia.

What frustrates me about both the Obstacle and the Tragedy is how completely uninterested the movie is in exploring either of them. There’s no attempt to look at social or class divides and certainly no attempt to depict them on-screen. Noah lives in a large, two-story house, easily gets the money to purchase a much larger one, and never seems to want for anything. An attempt to show the financial strain Noah is under might have made it land a little stronger—or, you know, at all.

Hell, The Notebook ‘s not even particularly interested in World War II. They say that Noah and his redshirt friend were in Patton’s 3 rd Army, which means they were in the Battle of the Bulge—the largest and bloodiest battle the US was involved in in World War II—but we barely get to see even a scene of it. We just get a couple of quick cuts that wouldn’t pass muster as a establishing shots.

But as much as the class divide and World War II are missed opportunities, the alzheimer’s subplot is an even bigger one. Alzheimer’s is such a horrifying and difficult disease to deal with that it seems impossible that the movie can’t wring any real emotion out of it, but it manages. You’d think that older Noah might be angry, sad, or even just frustrated that his wife of however many years doesn’t recognize him anymore, but he never seems any more than mildly put out.

That’s what so frustrating about it. One of the most raw and affecting love stories I’ve ever seen in film was Michael Haneke’s Amour , because could see the male lead fighting against his sadness and anger and frustration while caring for his wife, while still being in love with her. It makes the relationship feel more real and therefore affecting.

“I think I hear Nicolas Winding Refn calling me …”

The Unhealthy Relationship:

Once again, I hope this particular section is self explanatory. In this case, I’m going to ball together all the stuff the movie depicts as romantic or even just acceptable, which really is not great, and we’ll talk about it. This is the main point of these articles, so I’m hoping this is the section that will really land with people.

The Notebook has the aforementioned stalking and suicide threatening right at the start. It’s more or less the first thing Noah does on-screen, which had the side affect of turning me so far against him that he basically had no chance of me ever liking him. The fact that he also demanded that she yell that she wanted to go out with him during his emotional blackmail certainly didn’t help.

The movie also doesn’t do a great job of depicting them as a happy couple outside of their start. The narrator openly states that Noah and Allie fight all the time, and they both comment on it later, which doesn’t seem particularly healthy. They try to brush it off by saying that they still love each other (this film is a master of Tell, Don’t Show), but it’s an odd thing to draw attention to.

Also she cheats on her fiancé? Like, I know the movie is pushing the idea that she and Noah are soulmates, and she does eventually leave him for Noah, but it’s still an incredibly s****y thing to do to the guy, who seems like a perfectly nice person.

All of this points towards the point that I made earlier, back at the beginning of the plot summary: Noah and Allie are just a couple of stupid teenagers who are taking their relationship too seriously. Of course the movie isn’t intending to portray it that way, but it’s the way it comes across to me. Neither character really matures or grows during their time apart, which I suppose explains why they’re so eager to get back to each other, because they’re both still teenagers at heart. There’s nothing wrong with a high school romance, in theory, but portraying it as this huge be-all and end-all is weird, especially when there are elements of abuse in how the relationship started.

But just analyzing one of the Sparks based movies would never be enough for me, so tune in next time, when I continue my long and probably painful journey through the entire Nicolas Sparks film oeuvre. When will next time be? Hell if I know. But until next time…

*Hums “Raindrops Keep Fallin’ on my Head.”*

James is a Connecticut-based, Alaskan-born cinephile with an obsession with The Room and a god complex. His interests include Warhammer 40k , the films of  Nicolas Cage (both good and bad), and obscure moments in history. He writes movie reviews for Moar Powah under the name Elessar  and also has a blog, where is reviewing every episode of The X-Files at I Want to Review . His twitter can be found at Elessar42 , and his tumblr can be found at FootballInTuxedos .

— The Mary Sue has a strict comment policy that forbids, but is not limited to, personal insults toward anyone , hate speech, and trolling.—

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Love and Relationships in “The Notebook” Movie Essay

Introduction.

The influence of popular culture on the lives of billions of people cannot be overestimated or under-evaluated. Popular culture is a part of modern life. It is called ‘popular’ because the vast majority of people understand it and react according to personal preferences, would it be the positive or negative, or neutral perception of the particular piece of popular culture. Mass production of popular culture content affects the quality of the outcomes. The paper explores the motion picture The Notebook because it is one of the vivid examples of a romantic story that demonstrates how love helps people to overcome challenges in life.

Favorite Piece

The movie called The Notebook depicts the classic love triangle between the girl, Allie Hamilton, an innocent girl from the respectful family, Noah Calhoun, a young man from the countryside, and Lon Hammond, Jr., a perspective rich young lawyer. The summer months spent by Noah and Allie together sparkled a great teenage love that had been forbidden by Allie’s mother who took Allie away from Noah. He tried to contact Allie but failed as the mother did not want to allow it to happen. In despair, Noah went to World War II with his friend Fin who was killed in a battle later. Allie met Lon at the war and thought she fell in love again. However, once they accidentally met, Allie and Noah realized that their love was still burning in their hearts and reunited. The had a happy life with a house, children, and grandchildren until Allie got sick and started to forget her beloved ones. Noah kept reading her the notebook with the story of their life inside day after day to the moment when death reunited them again.

It is one of my favorite stories about love and strong will that allowed people to be together. It teaches me that nothing is over, and there is always a chance to achieve the desired goal. Everything depends on the efforts applied. I have learned from this movie that passion, loyalty, strong will, and patience can lead to the results a person desires the most. Additionally, it is a very romantic story that emphasizes the power of love. Distances, time, and will of other people cannot be stronger than true love. Even the fact that your beloved partner forgets you every morning can be overthrown by the power love.

Expectations and Social Norms

In The Notebook, the love of a rich girl and a countryside boy breaks the social norms acceptable for both classes. It has always been inappropriate to have a relationship between the poor and the rich, so Allie and Noah break social norms in the story. However, their love is bigger than any barrier of such kind. A viewer expects from the movie some miracle and it happens. The insightful factor of the story is the idea that no one should give up on something or somebody if the desire is big enough. Noah fought for his happiness even after Allie got sick and did it every day, reading the notebook to her to remind that their love was still alive.

Summing, the paper explored the motion picture The Notebook because it is one of the vivid examples of a romantic story that demonstrates how love helps people to overcome the challenges in life. This classic love story emphasizes the power of love and teaches to never give up as everything is possible. It is a great, heart-piercing story that can be recommended to watch.

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IvyPanda. (2020, August 26). Love and Relationships in "The Notebook" Movie. https://ivypanda.com/essays/love-and-relationships-in-the-notebook-movie/

"Love and Relationships in "The Notebook" Movie." IvyPanda , 26 Aug. 2020, ivypanda.com/essays/love-and-relationships-in-the-notebook-movie/.

IvyPanda . (2020) 'Love and Relationships in "The Notebook" Movie'. 26 August.

IvyPanda . 2020. "Love and Relationships in "The Notebook" Movie." August 26, 2020. https://ivypanda.com/essays/love-and-relationships-in-the-notebook-movie/.

1. IvyPanda . "Love and Relationships in "The Notebook" Movie." August 26, 2020. https://ivypanda.com/essays/love-and-relationships-in-the-notebook-movie/.

Bibliography

IvyPanda . "Love and Relationships in "The Notebook" Movie." August 26, 2020. https://ivypanda.com/essays/love-and-relationships-in-the-notebook-movie/.

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The Film “The Notebook”, Movie Review Example

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Exploring Communication and Relationships in the Film “ The Notebook ”

Interpersonal communication is more than just exchanging information between two people. It includes the process of sending and receiving messages that involve creating and interpreting meaning. This can be done verbally, nonverbally, or through a combination of both. The way people communicate with others affects the relationships they have with them. In this paper, I will be discussing how interpersonal communication is portrayed in the film I chose to analyze. In addition, I will be looking at how various theories of interpersonal communication are demonstrated in the film and how they contribute to the development, maintenance, and termination of relationships. The file I chose to analyze is “The Notebook.”

Film Summary

The film “The Notebook” follows the story of two young lovers, Noah and Allie, who are separated by their families due to social conventions and must navigate a long-distance relationship (Cassavetes). Throughout the film, we see various aspects of interpersonal communication between Noah and Allie as they struggle to maintain their relationship despite the many obstacles in their way. We see how they use communication to overcome these obstacles and how it ultimately affects their relationship.

Communication Theories in the Film

Interpersonal communication plays a vital role in the development and maintenance of relationships. In “The Notebook,” we see how various forms of communication are used to start communication, maintain, and terminate communication relationships. The film provides examples of how important communication is in creating and sustaining positive connections with others. Communication is an essential part of every relationship, whether it’s communicating our thoughts and feelings, perceiving others accurately, or using nonverbal cues to express ourselves. The following are some of the concepts portrayed in the film.

Perception is another important aspect of interpersonal communication. In “The Notebook,” we see how perception can affect relationships as Noah and Allie struggle to understand each other’s perspectives. For example, when Noah tries to get together with Allie, he perceives her rejection of his advances as a lack of interest in him and begins to distance himself from her. (Alder 48) However, Allie is interested in Noah but is hesitant to pursue a relationship due to her own personal issues. This misunderstanding between Noah and Allie highlights how perception can affect interpersonal relationships. Another example of this is when Allie is on the phone with Noah and she hangs upon him. In this case, Noah perceives Allie’s actions as a lack of interest in him and their relationship. However, Allie hangs up on Noah because she feels overwhelmed and needs some time to herself. This example shows how two people can have different perceptions of the same situation and how those perceptions can affect their relationships (Alder 52). The way we perceive others affects the way we communicate with them. Noah and Allie’s perception of each other changes as their relationship progresses in the film. When they first meet, they have a negative perception of each other. Noah perceives Allie as a spoiled rich girl out of his league. Allie perceives Noah as a poor, uneducated boy who is beneath her. As they get to know each other better, their perception changes. Noah starts to see Allie as a kind-hearted, caring person. Allie starts to see Noah as a sweet, down-to-earth guy. Their change in perception leads to a change in their communication. They become more open and honest with each other as their relationship develops.

Communication Processes

One of the most important aspects of interpersonal communication is the communication process. This process includes sender, message, channel, receiver, feedback, and context (Alder 29). In the film “The Notebook,” we see various examples of this process in action. For example, when Noah is trying to woo Allie, he sends her a letter expressing his love for her (Cassavetes). The sender, in this case, is Noah, the message is his expression of love, the channel is the letter, the receiver is Allie, feedback is Allie’s reaction to the letter, and the context is their long-distance relationship. Another example of the communication process in action is when Noah and Allie are having a fight, and Allie hangs up on Noah (Cassavetes). In this case, the sender is Allie. The message is her anger and frustration. The channel is the phone call. The receiver is Noah, feedback is Noah’s response to being hung up on, and the context is their tumultuous relationship. Through these examples of the communication process, we can see how interpersonal communication is used in the film.

Models of Communication

In addition to the communication process, communication models can also help us better understand interpersonal relationships. Two of the most commonly discussed communication models are Knapp’s Model of Relationship Development and the Dialectical Model (Alder 210). In “The Notebook,” we see both of these models in action as Noah and Allie work to build their relationship despite the many obstacles that come their way. For example, we see Knapp’s Model of Relationship Development in action when Noah and Allie first meet and start to develop a relationship. We also see the Dialectical Model at play when Noah and Allie try to overcome their differences and maintain their relationship. The Dialectical Model is also evident in the scene where Allie is on the phone with Noah, and she hangs upon him. Through these examples, we can see how interpersonal communication theories can help us understand relationships in “The Notebook.”

Verbal communication

Verbal communication is another important aspect of interpersonal relationships. In “The Notebook,” we see how verbal communication can be used to initiate, maintain, and terminate communication relationships (Alder 262). For example, when Noah and Allie first meet at the carnival, they use verbal communication to initiate their relationship. We also see this in the scene where they are on the phone, and Allie hangs up on Noah. In this case, verbal communication is used to maintain their relationship by helping them to understand each other’s perspectives (Cassavetes). Finally, verbal communication is used to terminate their relationship when Allie breaks up with Noah. These examples show how important verbal communication is in interpersonal relationships.

Interpersonal communication is a key factor in building and maintaining relationships. In “The Notebook,” we see how verbal, nonverbal, and perception can be used to initiate, maintain, and terminate communication relationships. Through examples from the film, we can better understand the role of communication in relationships and its importance for creating positive connections with others. Communication is an essential part of every relationship, whether it’s communicating our thoughts and feelings, perceiving others accurately, or using nonverbal cues to express ourselves.

Works Cited

Adler, Ronald Brian, George R. Rodman, and Athena DuPré.  Essential Communication . Oxford, UK: Oxford University Press, 2015.

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The Notebook

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It's hard not to admire its unabashed sentimentality, but The Notebook is too clumsily manipulative to rise above its melodramatic clichés.

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The Notebook

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Unknownusers, submitted by john russell on 30/06/2004 20:38.

30 June 2004 8:38PM

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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.

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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.

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The Duration of Memory: Reflecting on the Length and Impact of “The Notebook”

This essay about “The Notebook” explores its enduring impact, focusing on themes of memory and love. It discusses how the narrative intertwines past and present to reflect the process of remembering, emphasizing the story’s emotional depth and cultural significance. The analysis suggests that the novel’s portrayal of love transcending memory resonates deeply, offering reassurance that personal connections persist despite the erosion of memory, making its impact timeless and profound.

How it works

“The Notebook,” a novel by Nicholas Sparks and later adapted into a popular film, leaves an indelible mark on its audience, offering a poignant exploration of the themes of memory and enduring love. This text examines how the narrative structure and thematic elements of “The Notebook” contribute to its lasting impact on readers and viewers, lingering in the collective memory far beyond the final page or scene.

At its core, “The Notebook” is a story about the power of memory and its role in sustaining love.

It narrates the life-long romance between Noah Calhoun and Allie Nelson, a couple who fall in love in the 1940s. Their story is framed by scenes set in the present day, where an elderly Noah attempts to rekindle the faded memories of Allie, who suffers from dementia. The structure of the narrative itself mirrors the process of remembering, as the past and present intertwine, reflecting the way memories surface and recede in the mind.

The impact of “The Notebook” on its audience can largely be attributed to its emotional depth. Sparks does not merely tell a love story; he explores the themes of memory, loss, and the relentless passage of time. These are universal experiences that resonate deeply with human emotions and fears. The fear of forgetting or being forgotten, especially by loved ones, is a poignant undercurrent throughout the novel. This taps into a fundamental human concern, making the story relatable and its emotional impact profound.

Moreover, “The Notebook” emphasizes the idea that love can transcend memory. This notion is beautifully encapsulated in the scenes where Noah reads to Allie from their old notebook, a ritual that occasionally brings Allie back to a lucid state. Here, Sparks suggests that emotional connections, fortified by shared memories and experiences, are deeply ingrained in the psyche, perhaps residing in a place beyond conscious recall. This reassures the audience that the essence of personal connections is not easily erased, even by diseases like dementia that physically erode memory.

The novel also makes a significant commentary on the persistence of memory through physical artifacts, like the notebook Noah uses. These artifacts serve as vessels of memory, capable of triggering recollections that seem to have been lost. This aspect of the narrative highlights the importance of tangible reminders of the past—photographs, letters, and personal writings—in maintaining our personal histories and connections. It underscores the notion that while memory might fade, the impressions of the people we love and the experiences we cherish can be safeguarded.

“The Notebook” leaves a lasting impact not just through its thematic exploration of memory and love but also through its cultural significance. It has become a touchstone for discussions about romantic love in popular culture. The film adaptation, featuring iconic performances and quotable dialogue, has helped cement the story in the cultural landscape, making it a reference point for enduring love.

In reflecting on the duration of memory in “The Notebook,” it becomes clear that the story’s resonance is amplified by its exploration of deep, universal fears and assurances. It taps into the collective anxiety about loss and the hope that love can endure beyond the limitations of memory and time. The narrative reassures us that the essence of who we are and whom we love is preserved, perhaps not perfectly, in our stories and shared histories. Thus, the true duration of memory in “The Notebook” is indefinite—it lasts as long as the narrative continues to evoke emotion and provoke thought in its audience.

This exploration of “The Notebook” reveals that the length of memory—both within the narrative and in its impact on the audience—is boundless. It shows that stories, especially those that touch upon fundamental human experiences and emotions, hold a lasting place in the minds and hearts of their audience. “The Notebook” is not just remembered; it is felt, a testament to the enduring power of love and memory in the human experience.

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PapersOwl.com. (2024). The Duration of Memory: Reflecting on the Length and Impact of "The Notebook" . [Online]. Available at: https://papersowl.com/examples/the-duration-of-memory-reflecting-on-the-length-and-impact-of-the-notebook/ [Accessed: 22 May. 2024]

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Home — Essay Samples — Literature — The Notebook — A Review of The Notebook, a 2004 Movie Based on a Novel by Nicholas Sparks

A Review of The Notebook, a 2004 Movie Based on a Novel by Nicholas Sparks

• Categories: The Notebook

About this sample

Words: 515 |

Published: Nov 16, 2018

Words: 515 | Page: 1 | 3 min read

The Notebook

Works cited.

• Sparks, N. (1996). The Notebook. Grand Central Publishing.
• Sparks, N. (1999). A Walk to Remember. Warner Books.
• Sparks, N. (2006). Dear John. Grand Central Publishing.
• Sparks, N. (2013). The Longest Ride. Grand Central Publishing.
• O'Bryan, S. (2013). An analysis of the use of descriptive language in The Notebook by Nicholas Sparks. International Journal of Humanities and Social Science Research, 1(1), 78-89.
• McDaniel, D. (2005). The Notebook: A Film for All Seasons. Film Journal International, 108(3), 16-17.
• Kord, S. (2013). The Novel and the Cinema: Nicholas Sparks’s The Notebook. In A. Blouin, & J. Tsao (Eds.), Adaptation: The Journal of Literature on Screen Studies, 6(2), 177-195.
• Nafisi, A. (2008). The Notebook: An American Classic. The Chronicle of Higher Education, 54(7), B6-B9.
• Smiley, J. (2013). The Appeal of Nicholas Sparks. New York Times, 18.
• Bauer, T. (2016). The Notebook: Why Audiences Fall in Love with Nicholas Sparks's Tragic Love Story. In T. Bauer (Ed.), Unrequited Love in Literature (pp. 127-136). Palgrave Macmillan.

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The Notebook Essay

The story opens with Duke (Old Noah) reading to Allie in a nursing home. He starts at the beginning, July 1940, at a Carnival in Seabrook, South Carolina. That’s where Noah and Allie meet for the first time…and where Noah falls instantly in love while Allie takes her sweet time warming up to him. Mutual friends Fin and Sara eventually bring them together more often until they go see a movie as a group. On the walk home is when things start heating up between Noah and Allie.

Allie is from a wealthy family and Noah is from the wrong side of the tracks. Their social differences do not stop their relationship from blossoming. Allie spends her summer with Noah and she falls madly in love with him but she has to go back home at the end of the summer because she is due to start college.

Allie’s mother does not approve of Noah and she does everything in her power to stop the relationship.

Noah writes Allie letters every day for a year but she never receives them because her mother hides them. When Allie goes off to college she meets a man named Lon who is wealthy and has plans to marry her.

Allie runs out after him and they end up getting into a huge fight. Allie and Noah lose touch but reconnect years Later whenFin, now going by his middle name Lucas returns from the war, injured. Alllie is married with children at this point, but she and Lucas still share a raw intensity for each other preventing them from ever forgetting about their long-lost love affair as teenagers.

Noah comes home and finds out that Allie is engaged to another man. Noah writes her a letter everyday for a year in an attempt to win her back. The film ends with them getting back together and getting married.

The Notebook is a 2004 American romantic drama film directed by Nick Cassavetes and based on the novel of the same name by Nicholas Sparks. The film stars Ryan Gosling and Rachel McAdams as a young couple who fall in love despite the opposition of their parents and peers.

The film received mixed reviews but was praised for its acting and direction. It earned $115 million worldwide against a budget of $30 million, becoming one of the highest-grossing films of 2004.

The Notebook was nominated for several awards, including five Teen Choice Awards, and won the MTV Movie Award for Best Kiss. The film has been included in lists of the greatest romantic films of all time and is often cited as a favorite film by many fans.

Allie quickly fell for soldier Lon Hammond Jr. after nursing him back to health, and he soon proposed. But when Noah returned from the war, he found that his father had sold their home in order to buy and fix up the one they’d always wanted.

Noah goes to see Allie and finds that she is engaged. Noah does not give up hope and decides to write her 365 letters, one for each day of the year, in an attempt to win her back. However, Allie’s mother Anne Hamilton has always disapproved of Noah and does not want her daughter to marry him.

When Allie reads the letters she is torn between her past love with Noah and her new life with Lon. She eventually chooses Lon and they get married. They have two children together, a boy named Jamie and a girl named Anna.

The film then jumps ahead to present day where Allie is living in a nursing home suffering from Alzheimer’s disease. Her husband visits her every day and reads to her from a notebook that contains the story of their love.

The notebook is a powerful film that tells the story of everlasting love. Nicholas Sparks does an amazing job of creating characters that are easy to relate to and care about. The film is also very visually stunning. If you are looking for a romantic film that will make you believe in true love, then The Notebook is the perfect choice.

After Allie tries on her wedding gown, she spots Noah’s picture in the newspapers next to the house he told her about. She wonders how he is doing and decides to go check up on him. So, she drives back to Seabrook where Noah lives. They have dinner together and afterwards, Noah asks her to come back tomorrow.

Allie goes back to her apartment and Noah calls her. She tells him that she is engaged to be married. Allie’s fiancé, Lon, takes her out to Seabrook and they meet Noah. He tells them that he is going to sell the house.

Noah visits Allie in New York and she tells him that her mother does not approve of him. They argue and Noah leaves. Allie’s mother tells her that she needs to choose between Noah and Lon.

Lon takes Allie out to dinner and propose marriage to her. She says yes but is clearly not sure about her decision. The next day, she sees Noah again and they spend time together at the notebook house. Allie tells Noah she is getting married and he asks her to not marry Lon.

Allie goes ahead with the wedding but has doubts. At the last minute, she decides to leave Lon at the altar and goes back to Seabrook. She finds Noah and they spend the night together talking. The next day, Allie’s mother comes to visit them.

She tells Allie that she needs to make a decision between Noah and Lon. Allie chooses Noah and they get married.

The film ends with an older Allie and Noah sitting outside together looking at the notebook. It is revealed that Allie has Alzheimer’s disease and does not remember Noah anymore. However, every day he tells her their story and she falls in love with him all over again.

The Notebook is a 2004 American romantic drama film directed by Nick Cassavetes, written by Jeremy Leven from Jan Sardi’s adaptation of Nicholas Sparks’ 1996 novel of the same name. The film stars Ryan Gosling and Rachel McAdams as a young couple who fall in love in the 1940s. Their story is narrated from the present day by an elderly man (played by James Garner) recounting his past to a fellow nursing home resident (played by Gena Rowlands, Cassavetes’ mother).

The Notebook received mixed reviews but was generally praised for its acting performances (particularly those of Gosling and McAdams), its screenplay, and its cinematography. The film became a sleeper hit grossing over $115 million in North America and $81 million in the rest of the world for a worldwide total of $196 million.

The film received several award nominations, winning eight Teen Choice Awards, a Satellite Award, and an MTV Movie Award. The Notebook was also nominated for Best Picture at the Academy Awards.

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The notebook, common sense media reviewers.

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

A Lot or a Little?

What you will—and won't—find in this movie.

The movie's ultimate message is that true love con

Though it's romantic to watch characters fall in l

Predominantly White cast, with most Black characte

Noah and Finn are engaged in active duty during Wo

Steamy passion between the two young lovers. Lots

Words/phrases used include "damn," "crap," "goddam

A 17-year-old smokes a cigar. Adults drink cocktai

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…

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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 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.

Community Reviews

• Parents say (32)
• Kids say (106)

Based on 32 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 : April 28, 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

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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.

Emilia Pérez review: "A miraculous movie that reframes the musical in fascinating and surprising ways"

GamesRadar+ Verdict

A film where everyone brings their A-game, this reframes the musical in fascinating and continually surprising ways.

Why you can trust GamesRadar+ Our experts review games, movies and tech over countless hours, so you can choose the best for you. Find out more about our reviews policy.

Emilia Pérez had its world premiere at the Cannes Film Festival. Here's our review...

French director Jacques Audiard ( A Prophet , Rust and Bone ) leaves his comfort zone far behind with his new film. A fully engaging two-hour musical set in Mexico City, complete with dance numbers and a storyline that ranges from gender reassignment to cartel violence, it’s as daring as they come. With a wonderful cast led by Zoe Saldaña, Selena Gomez, and the terrific Spanish actor Karla Sofía Gascón, it’s a film that wows in multiple ways. 

The plot gets truly underway as Rita (Saldaña), a dedicated counsellor at law, is summoned by a mysterious voice on the phone. No sooner does she arrive at a newsstand than she is press-ganged into a vehicle, where she meets drug lord Manitas Del Monte (Gascón). 

Two years earlier, he began hormone treatment and wants Rita to find him a surgeon to complete his journey to live “the life nature wouldn’t give me”. Completing his transition, Del Monte becomes Emilia Pérez and starts life over. Even wife Jessi (Gomez) is made to think her husband has been killed. 

With stellar songs by French singer Camille, a highly original score by Clément Ducol, and striking choreography by Damien Jalet, Emilia Pérez shifts effortlessly from musical extravagances to a gritty underworld milieu. 

The latter comes to the fore when the story moves on several years, finding Pérez keen to start a campaign to locate those who have “disappeared” in Mexico’s shady crime-riddled system. Saldaña and Gomez deliver forceful performances (both in Spanish), but even they are outflanked by Gascón. A miraculous movie.

Emilia Pérez's release date is currently TBC.

James Mottram is a freelance film journalist, author of books that dive deep into films like Die Hard and Tenet, and a regular guest on the Total Film podcast. You'll find his writings on GamesRadar+ and Total Film, and in newspapers and magazines from across the world like The Times, The Independent, The i, Metro, The National, Marie Claire, and MindFood. 

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‘Filmlovers!’ Review: Arnaud Desplechin’s Hybrid Essay Film Explores His Abiding Love of Cinema

Vikram murthi.

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Via narration by long-time collaborator Mathieu Amalric, Desplechin begins with a meditation on cinema’s artistic forebearers (painting, photography, puppetry, etc.) and its intrinsic properties, mainly time and movement. Throughout “Filmlovers!,” he repeatedly circles back to cinema’s historical development, from the early days of projection in the late 19th century through its industry expansion, the rise of television, and eventually its contemporary moment.

Before invoking theory or personal emotions, “Filmlovers!” grounds the medium in its material realities, conveying to an audience — albeit one who probably already knows this stuff — that film is intrinsically tied to technology, economics, and a country’s sociopolitical fabric.

Structured in chapters, “Filmlovers!” deploys multiple film excerpts across cinema history to supplement analyses of spectatorship, specifically the ways movies comment upon the gaze of the viewer. Most of the time, Desplechin uses clips as quotations, using a torrent of imagery to emphasize a particular point, but sometimes Desplechin-via-Amalric will comment at length about a particular film or engage with granular scene analysis.

Desplechin also revives his loose fictional avatar Paul Dedalus for “Filmlovers!” to lend the film a personal edge. A Nathan Zuckerman-like figure, Paul Dedalus sports a flexible persona that allows the filmmaker to explore various pet ideas unbound by continuity. In Desplechin’s 1996 international breakthrough “My Sex Life… or How I Got into an Argument,” the existentially adrift Paul (Amalric) was a philosophy PhD student struggling to complete his dissertation amidst a complicated love life. The 2015 sorta-prequel “My Golden Days” features Paul, played by Amalric as an adult (also played by Amalric) living in Paris and Quentin Dolmaire as a young man in Roubaix, as an anthropologist who routinely does field work in Asia. But in “Filmlovers!,” Desplechin presents Paul as an avowed cinephile from a young age, featuring him in three phases: a curious child, a film-obsessed teen, and a suave twenty-something scholar.

As Paul grows up, his obsession becomes more of an active pursuit. He sneaks into a repertory screening of “Cries and Whispers” and it changes his life. He programs “Daisies” for his own high school film club where he impresses a girl with his earnest introduction and careful monitoring of the projection. For Paul (and, presumably, Desplechin), cinephilia and amorous desire are forever intertwined.

The best sequence in “Filmlovers!” involves Paul in his twenties engaging with two women — his crush who’s involved with someone else and her more outgoing friend — at a screening of Francis Ford Coppola’s “Peggy Sue Got Married.” While Desplechin definitely filters the scene through a romantic’s trapped-in-amber glow, he also neatly captures how cinema-going and romance can become wrapped up in a shared gaze, and how sharing a passion can become a flirtatious game on its own.

He also features a sequence of documentary-style testimonials from anonymous individuals who discuss their cinematic routines (where they sit in the theater, what they eat) as well as their most cherished film memories. One man talks about how seeing Maurice Pialat’s “A Nos Amours” changed his life; a little girl explains how she was emotionally affected by Steven Spielberg’s “West Side Story” adaptation.

“Filmlovers!” freely digresses through multiple different cinematic modes, consciously mirroring Desplechin’s aggressive cinematic style in his narrative work. Its episodic nature inevitably means certain sequences will endear themselves to different viewers, but Desplechin still offers multiple points of entry. Though the Dedalus sections will likely be cherished more by those who have followed the character for years, they certainly compel on their own merits and require no prior context. Similarly, the more academic scenes might intrigue viewers who have dipped their toes in film theory or cinema studies, but they’re never so dry to alienate anyone unfamiliar with the material. Anytime ideas drift towards abstraction, “Filmlovers!” returns to the physical and emotional sensations that film inspires.

Desplechin freely risks boring or annoying anyone well-versed in his talking points — which, if we’re being honest, might be a sizable portion of the film’s actual audience — and he seems predictably, refreshingly indifferent to any charges of pretension. While “Filmlovers!” might not say anything new about the theatrical experience or the history of cinema, it might linger, however briefly, in your mind as a warm memory, and that’s certainly Desplechin’s chief intention.

“Filmlovers!” premiered at the 2024 Cannes Film Festival. It is currently seeking U.S. distribution.

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‘The Sympathizer’ Opens a Counteroffensive on Vietnam War Movies

HBO’s series is not just a good story. It’s a sharp piece of film criticism.

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By James Poniewozik

HBO has long defined itself in contrast to mainstream television — “It’s not TV,” as the slogan goes — but in many ways its history is one of revising and responding to the movies. “The Sopranos” updated the mafia movie (and its characters quoted, and were influenced by, films like “The Godfather”). “Game of Thrones” dirtied up the high-fantasy genre; “Deadwood” the Western; “Watchmen” the superhero story.

But the network has never given us its longform version of, or rebuttal to, one Hollywood staple: the Vietnam War movie (unless one counts the alternative history aspects of “Watchmen”). Until now, with “The Sympathizer,” Park Chan-wook’s kinetic and darkly hilarious adaptation (with the co-showrunner Don McKellar) of the novel by the Vietnamese American author Viet Thanh Nguyen.

The seven-episode series is many things. It’s an exploration of dual identity: The protagonist, known only as the Captain ( Hoa Xuande ), is a half-French, half-Vietnamese communist double agent planted as an aide to the General (Toan Le), a leader of the South Vietnamese secret police. It’s a spy thriller, a satire of colonialism and its many faces — many of them Robert Downey Jr.’s — and an exploration of the complications of love and memory.

But it’s also an intense dialogue and argument with the movies. It is simultaneously its own Vietnam War movie, bold, inventive and sometimes bloody, as well as a pointed, detailed work of movie criticism.

In “The Sympathizer,” which began airing in April, the movies are a continuation of war by other means. Its fixation on film begins early. Retelling his story in a postwar re-education camp — the framing device for the series — the Captain recalls watching the vicious interrogation of a communist agent on the stage of a movie theater, where the marquee sign for “Emmanuelle” is coming down, and the one for Charles Bronson’s “Death Wish” is hoisted into place. Even in Hollywood’s dream vision, beauty gives way to an American pointing an oversized gun.

“Hollywood” is a metonym for America in “The Sympathizer”; it is the country’s front door, its export and its weapon. The Captain’s C.I.A. contact, Claude (Downey), lectures his “protégé” (who he is unaware is a communist) about American pop culture, expounding to him about the Isley Brothers and the Herbie Hancock score for “Death Wish.” Later, Claude tells him about the C.I.A.’s interest in keeping tabs on film directors: “As long as we can keep them within the nebulous bounds of humanism but with no actionable political ideology, they’re completely harmless.”

For Nguyen, who came to the United States with his family in 1975, the movies were potent and personal. “I grew up when America was fighting its war in Vietnam all over again, this time onscreen,” he recalled in a 2022 commencement speech. “Vietnam was our country and this was our war, and yet our only place in American movies was to be killed, raped, threatened or rescued.”

The adaptation of his novel dramatizes this in its centerpiece fourth episode, which premiered Sunday. The Captain, sent to America after the war to keep an eye on the General in exile, is hired as a consultant for “The Hamlet,” an “Apocalypse Now”–like film by a blowhard American auteur, Nikos, again played by Downey. (Downey also plays an academic peddling theories about the “Oriental” mind-set and a right-wing politician who displays a photo of himself with John Wayne, whose “The Green Berets” tried to rouse support for the war.)

The filming takes the Captain into 1970s Hollywood’s heart of dimness. Nikos proclaims that he’s making “The Hamlet” to give voice to the Vietnamese people’s pain, but he neglects to give his Vietnamese characters any dialogue. When he agrees to add lines for them, he runs into the small problem that none of the extras hired to play the villagers are Vietnamese or speak the language.

(The multiple casting of Downey, by the way, is arguably a visual riff on this history of the movies treating Asians in general, and Vietnamese in particular, as interchangeable: Every aspect of imperialism, it conveys, is the same face in different makeup. But in a series that’s meant to foreground the Vietnamese in their own story, the device is showy and distracting because … well, it’s a whole lot of Robert Downey Jrs.)

The Captain volunteers to solve the problem, rounding up a group of Vietnamese expats to fill the extra roles, including his friend Bon (Fred Nguyen Khan), who proves to have a talent for getting killed, repeatedly, in a variety of costumes and makeup.

But the Captain’s solution introduces its own complications. His refugee extras, who fled the communists, don’t want to play Viet Cong onscreen. “Why do we make art,” the Captain pleads with them, “if not to explore the full complexity of life?” His speech doesn’t persuade anyone, but an offer of an extra $10 in pay does.

Park, the director of the relentless and sanguinary “Oldboy,” is an apt fit for this story, able to both render the thrill of actual action and satirize the absurdity of action moviemaking. (Park and McKellar wrote the fourth episode, which is directed by Fernando Meirelles.) On set, the Captain meets a Korean American actor (played by John Cho), whose résumé includes characters of multiple Asian ethnicities who have been beaten to death by Robert Mitchum, stabbed by Ernest Borgnine and shot by Frank Sinatra. An overbearing method actor (David Duchovny) plays his role as a war criminal with disturbing fidelity.

The episode builds to the movie-within-a-show’s climax, the rape of a village woman whom Nikos has named for the Captain’s mother. Though Nikos considers it a “tribute,” the Captain is appalled. (“You should be thanking me!” Nikos complains.) It’s too much for the Captain, whom Xuande plays as a man expert at mastering his emotions and his affect. He is fired and breaks up the scene’s shooting, and while leaving the set, he’s injured in a pyrotechnic blast meant to simulate an airstrike against the Vietnamese hamlet.

The Captain survives the devastation of his country only to be blown up by the simulacrum of the war he escaped. But Nikos gets the explosions he needs, and “The Hamlet” is released into the world.

“This movie is trash,” a Vietnamese character later says philosophically, “but that’s only from our perspective. He’s an American, and from an American perspective, it’s pretty progressive.”

This theme — perspectives and the lenses that express and determine them — is what makes “The Sympathizer” both an ingenious critique of war movies and an inventive war story of its own. The series opens with a statement displayed onscreen: “All wars are fought twice / The first time on the battlefield / the second time in memory.” Sly and passionate, “The Sympathizer” joins this battle on a third front: in the pictures.

James Poniewozik is the chief TV critic for The Times. He writes reviews and essays with an emphasis on television as it reflects a changing culture and politics. More about James Poniewozik

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