Facebook Twitter Instagram
    Latest
    • Thank You
    • 4000. Scenes From A Marriage (1973)
    • 3999. The Pianist (2002)
    • 3998. Philadelphia (1993)
    • 3997. Jeanne Dielman, 23 Quai du Commerce, 1080 Bruxelles (1975)
    • 3996. The Green Mile (1999)
    • 3995. Doctor Zhivago (1965)
    • 3994. Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery (2022)
    The Mad Movie Man
    • Home
    • Blog
      • All Posts
      • Best Of The Year
        • Best Of 2015
        • Best Of 2016
        • Best Of 2017
        • Best Of 2018
        • Best Of 2019
        • Best Of 2020
        • Best Of 2021
        • Best Of 2022
      • The Decade In Review
      • Box Office Analysis
      • James Bond
      • Oscars
      • RANKED
      • Star Wars
      • The Big Questions
      • Top 10
      • World Cinema
    • Ratings
      • Top 250
      • Top 100 Foreign Films
      • Bottom 50
      • 0 – 1.9
      • 2 – 3.9
      • 4 – 5.9
      • 6 – 7.9
      • 8 – 10
    • Genres
      • Action
      • Anthology
      • Animation
      • Christmas
      • Comedy
      • Crime
      • Documentary
      • Drama
      • Fantasy
      • Film-Noir
      • History
      • Horror
      • Kids’
      • Musical
      • Psychological
      • Romance
      • Sci-Fi
      • Short
      • Silent
      • Sport
      • Superhero
      • Survival
      • Thriller
      • Western
    • Release Year
      • 2020s
      • 2010s
      • 2000s
      • 1990s
      • 1980s
      • 1970s
      • 1960s
      • 1950s
      • 1940s
      • 1930s
      • 1920s
    • Country
      • Afghanistan
      • Argentina
      • Australia
      • Austria
      • Belgium
      • Brazil
      • Cambodia
      • Canada
      • Chile
      • China
      • Colombia
      • Costa Rica
      • Czechoslovakia
      • Czech Republic
      • Denmark
      • East Timor
      • Faroe Islands
      • Finland
      • France
      • Germany
      • Georgia
      • Greece
      • Hong Kong
      • Hungary
      • Iceland
      • India
      • Indonesia
      • Iran
      • Iraq
      • Ireland
      • Israel
      • Italy
      • Japan
      • Latvia
      • Lebanon
      • Laos
      • Malaysia
      • Mexico
      • New Zealand
      • Nigeria
      • North Korea
      • Norway
      • Paraguay
      • Peru
      • Philippines
      • Poland
      • Romania
      • Russia
      • Saudi Arabia
      • Singapore
      • South Korea
      • South Africa
      • Soviet Union
      • Spain
      • Sweden
      • Switzerland
      • Syria
      • Taiwan
      • Thailand
      • Turkey
      • Uganda
      • United Kingdom
      • United States
      • Uruguay
      • Vietnam
      • Zambia
    • About
    The Mad Movie Man
    You are at:Home»Review»896. The Notebook (2004)

    896. The Notebook (2004)

    0
    By The Mad Movie Man on March 20, 2015 120-129 mins, 2004, 6 - 7.9, Drama, Mar 15, Movies Of 2015, Review, Romance, United States
    6.8 Cheesy but watchable
    • Acting 7.1
    • Directing 7.0
    • Story 6.3
    • User Ratings (0 Votes) 0

    Starring: Ryan Gosling, Rachel McAdams, Gena Rowlands

    Director: Nick Cassavetes

    Running Time: 123 mins


    The Notebook is an American film about the passionate story of a poor young man and a rich young woman who fall deeply in love and fight for their love despite being separated due to their social differences in 1940s America.

    Well, this is the mother of all chick flicks, and despite being painfully cheesy a lot of the time, it does manage to get quite a lot right. Its two central performances are very strong, the period setting is appropriate and adds to the story, and the structure of the storytelling does allow for some degree of unpredictability. However, this film was unfortunately overridden by a cheesy plot and dialogue, as well as a very generic central story that was pretty predictable.

    So, let’s start with the fantastic performances given in this film. Ryan Gosling and Rachel McAdams are very strong as a passionate young couple, and their own passionate performances make the love story a whole lot more convincing, as it does seem from the beginning that it’s likely to be a little melodramatic, but Gosling and McAdams bring it back down to earth and show some great chemistry on screen to make this story work better.

    What’s also strangely good about this film is the period setting of the 1940s. Normally, period settings are pretty pointless and just used as eye candy to distract from a mediocre story, but the brilliance here is that the context and atmosphere of the 1940s really adds to the story. Initially, you have a real sense of calm in the story, which makes the first part of the film, where the two meet, quite pleasant, whilst the latter stages become more tumultuous in line with the historical context, so the story cleverly mirrors what was actually happening in the world at the time.

    Before we go on to the overriding negatives, I’ve got to say that the storytelling method of this film, a series of flashbacks told by our main characters in their old age, was quite interesting. In fact, the old couple’s story was much more interesting, because it wasn’t too much of a generic story, and although it was a bit soppy at times, it was the most unpredictable and intriguing thing of the whole film.

    Despite all that, however, it was disappointing to see that this film is largely very cheesy, generic and predictable. Yes, the love story works well because of the performances, but it doesn’t really go beyond that. It’s convincing, but this relationship isn’t intriguing enough to make for more emotional viewing, and the fact that it does largely continue on generic story lines means that it’s completely predictable, and thus just isn’t emotional or exciting enough.

    Overall, this gets a 6.8, because despite the strong performances, effective use of setting and interesting structure, the cheesiness and genericness of the principal romance story just isn’t interesting or emotional enough to really achieve what it’s trying to do: make a dramatic and tender romance story for the ages.

    Share. Facebook Twitter Pinterest LinkedIn Tumblr Email
    The Mad Movie Man
    • Website
    • Facebook
    • Twitter

    The Mad Movie Man, AKA Anthony Cullen, writes articles and reviews about movies and the world of cinema. From January 1st, 2013 to December 31st, 2022, he watched and reviewed a movie every day. This is the blog dedicated to the project: www.madmovieman.com

    Related Posts

    8.2

    4000. Scenes From A Marriage (1973)

    7.8

    3999. The Pianist (2002)

    8.2

    3998. Philadelphia (1993)

    Follow Me Online!
    • Facebook
    • Twitter
    • YouTube
    • Tumblr
    New Releases
    8.2
    December 25, 2022

    3994. Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery (2022)

    5.6
    December 10, 2022

    3969. Falling For Christmas (2022)

    6.9
    December 4, 2022

    3956. The People We Hate At The Wedding (2022)

    5.4
    December 3, 2022

    3954. Disenchanted (2022)

    7.4
    December 3, 2022

    3953. Meet Cute (2022)

    7.6
    November 23, 2022

    3934. Do Revenge (2022)

    7.0
    November 18, 2022

    3929. The Wonder (2022)

    6.7
    November 13, 2022

    3924. See How They Run (2022)

    Recommended Movies
    8.0
    Review
    October 17, 20210

    3517. Belle (竜とそばかすの姫)(2021)

    9.6
    Review
    February 16, 20130

    54. Flipped (2010)

    9.4
    Review
    April 12, 20130

    119. 127 Hours (2010)

    8.1
    Review
    November 9, 20180

    2344. Roma (2018)

    8.0
    Review
    January 31, 20200

    2839. Taylor Swift: Miss Americana (2020)

    Popular Posts
    December 31, 2022

    Thank You

    8.2
    December 31, 2022

    4000. Scenes From A Marriage (1973)

    7.8
    December 30, 2022

    3999. The Pianist (2002)

    8.2
    December 29, 2022

    3998. Philadelphia (1993)

    7.5
    December 28, 2022

    3997. Jeanne Dielman, 23 Quai du Commerce, 1080 Bruxelles (1975)

    9.1
    December 27, 2022

    3996. The Green Mile (1999)

    7.6
    December 26, 2022

    3995. Doctor Zhivago (1965)

    © 2023 ThemeSphere. Designed by ThemeSphere.

    Type above and press Enter to search. Press Esc to cancel.