Skip to main content

The Notebook: Romantic or Overkill?

Title: The Notebook 

Year: 2004

Director: Nick Cassavetes




I recently had a conversation with a friend of mine who was utterly offended by my comments that The Notebook was just 'okay'. In my opinion, it is one of the most overrated movies of all time, tied with Titanic, but that's a story for another day. Given my friend's reaction and the fact that I had not watched the movie in close to a decade, I decided to re-watch it with a fresh set of eyes. 

To start off, The Notebook was adapted from a book with a similar title by Nicholas Sparks. Nicholas Sparks is hands down one of my favourite authors! I am a huge fan of his work specifically; The Longest Ride and The Last Song. The Notebook is a story about a summer love that seems determined not to end. Which to start off defies what summer love is all about. If you have ever had the pleasure of experiencing one, you know that it's not meant to last, making it the more exciting. It's a "let's make the most out of the time we have" kind of situation. But not for Noah and Ally. 

Let's dive right in to the characters. Noah is a small town boy who works a minimum wage job at the local coal mine and of course he falls deep in love with the rich girl who has her life set out for her. How do they meet? At a local fun fair where Noah immediately identifies Ally as the girl of his dreams. Despite her resistance (stalker alert), Noah is determined to take her out going as far as faking a suicide attempt to get her to say yes. 

Determined to not let their polar opposite backgrounds stand in the way, the two spend a blissful summer together doing whatever teenagers did for fun in the 1940s. But one thing is painfully clear, they are both hard headed and they are constantly fighting. However, love conquers all and those silly fights are diffused by a simple kiss. As the summer draws to an end, it is revealed that Ally will be going to college at a much farther place than she and Noah had discussed, all the way in New York. Like any other young couple in love, they are in denial of how this will affect their relationship. Until one night they have their biggest fight (some could call it a break up) which ends up with Ally's parents moving her back home a week earlier than had been planned. 

Dearest Noah who just can't get over feisty Ally spends a whole year writing her letters, one for each day. Talk about romantic, where can I get myself a Noah? *sigh* Unfortunately Ally's mother intercepts all the letters and Ally doesn't receive them. Years pass and Ally finally moves on to the point of getting engaged. Faithful Noah however is still holding on to the hope that one day she will come back (realistic much!). As fate would have it, their paths cross again and that old spark is still there. Ally cheats on her fiance with Noah, spending days with him at the mansion he built for her. Seriously, where can I get myself a Noah?? It's important to note that even amidst their reunion, their old problems still exist. They can never agree on anything, except their love for each other, and Ally is still economically speaking, out of Noah's league. 

Because it's a romantic movie, the two end up together and go on to have many kids and live happily ever after, at least for some time. In their old age Ally is diagnosed with dementia causing her to forget the beautiful life she built with her husband. Noah, the ever romantic, reads their life story to her daily as a way to cure her? Even though medically speaking there is no point of return for her, she occasionally remembers. Now here is where they lost me. A love true enough to perform miracles beyond medicine? I can buy that. But a love so strong they are able to die together at the same time holding hands? Overkill! 

Do not get me wrong, I am a romantic, I am a sucker for romance you can ask anyone. But The Notebook just does not do it for me. There is a delicate balance you have to observe when dealing with romance and just one misstep can throw the whole thing off, which is what they did here. Out of 10, I give it a solid 6.5. 

If there is a movie you would like for me to review, please let me know in the comments below! 



Comments

Popular posts from this blog

Growing Up

I recently reached a very important stage in my life; turning 21! Yep, I am pretty old I know. So 21, everyone looks forward to this big moment in their life. It's when the whole world recognises you as an adult! You are finally free to do whatever you want. It's like being given a canvas and paint and painting the picture that is the rest of your life. A pretty exciting moment right? wrong! Well at least for me anyway. I mean at first I was psyched, I was finally 21. What could go wrong? And then I sat down and thought, I am 21. I am in my 20s and I have nothing to show for it. Over two decades I have been on earth and I hadn't even finished school yet! It was a nightmare. My friend called it an 'early mid-life crisis'. Of  course right now I am feeling a lot better about the whole thing, I mean I am still freaking out just a little bit but I will be ok. The point I am trying to make is even though growing up is great and everything, it can also be scary. The older...

Lessons from The Entrepreneurship Catalyst

Walking into the UB sports arena on Wednesday morning, I had pegged the De Beers Entrepreneurship Catalyst Conference as just one of those events that I would benefit nothing from. You know the events that I am referring to. Where rich stuffy guys come and tell us about how they made it in long boring lectures. Boy was I glad that I was wrong. The event was nothing short of star studded, from 9 time Olympic gold medallist Carl Lewis, to representatives from Stanford University. Which was expected, after all it is De Beers. To kick off the day, Peter Hong from Google gave what to me was a life changing lecture. He comes from a science background having been a marine biologist at some point in life but has managed to end up at Google with some other interesting experiences in between. His talk, I can confidently say was the highlight of the day for me. Perhaps it was because it was first on the agenda in the morning but I would like to think it was more because of what he said. He f...

28

I am really not great with birthdays, mine that is. Every time August 5 th comes around, something in my brain just starts going haywire. And as I get closer to 30, things keep getting worse. However this year I want to switch things up and look at this wonderful day with a different set of lens. So, in my impulsive decision making, I decided to do a list of things I am grateful for. One for each year that I have been on this earth. So, here goes 28 things I am grateful for   1. My life. This one is pretty standard. I have lived a healthy life and free from this horrible pandemic.  2. My son’s life ; Leruo, who is going to be 3 years old in a week’s time. Yes we are both Leos.  3. My family. See if I was smart I would name them one by one and add to my list.  4. My friends . I have a great support system in terms of my friends. They are always ready to listen to my random thoughts and offer advice where necessary.  5. Winnie. I know technically she falls und...