Review of Notebook, The

Introduction

Miss Hamilton is in the twilight of her years, living in a care home and suffering from the effects of dementia. As she forgets more of her life and her past, she would become increasingly isolated, were it not for a kindly old gentleman named Duke. Every day Duke comes and reads to her from a notebook, and the story piques her interest and stimulates her mind where little else does. It`s a passionate tale of first love, set just before and after the Second World War.

Noah is a young man who falls madly in love with Allie. The only problem is that Noah is a simple worker while Allie is the daughter of a powerful and rich family. A brief summer romance becomes something much greater, much to the consternation of Allie`s mother. Allie is being groomed for a husband of equal social standing, and is being taught all the social graces and lessons necessary for that high society. Noah on the other hand is a simple man with grand dreams, of buying and renovating a grand mansion, now in disrepair. That summer ends prematurely, when Allie`s parents, disapproving of the way the relationship is heading, pack up and leave for the city. Bereft, Noah joins up as soon as the war starts. Feeling that her first love is lost, Allie eventually meets and falls for an injured serviceman. Lon being of rich Southern stock is perfect in the eyes of her family, and when the war ends, a wedding is on the cards. Noah has returned as well, and finally throws himself into renovating that old house. Just prior to the wedding, Allie sees a picture of Noah standing in front of a pristine and restored house in a newspaper. She decides to visit him one last time.

Video

The Notebook gets a pristine 2.35:1 anamorphic transfer as befits a film barely a year old. The image is clear and sharp throughout, there is a hint of grain, and detail levels are fine for the most part. There is a minor degree of softness for the darker scenes, but by and large the image quality does justice to the fine cinematography in the film. From the atmospheric title sequence to the carefully observed period detail, this film looks gorgeous.

Audio

The main feature comes with a choice of DD 5.1 or DD 2.0 Surround English tracks. The dialogue is clear throughout, and subtle but effective use is made of the surrounds. Aaron Zigman`s music complements the film well, as well as some period songs.

Features

I think New Line must have learnt from the Lord Of The Rings releases, as this film certainly comes with a fairly comprehensive set of extras, as well as some atmospherically designed animated menus.

There are some 30 minutes of deleted or alternate scenes with the film, 12 scenes in total. They are presented anamorphically, as are all the extras on this disc, and you can watch these scenes with or without a commentary from the film`s editor Alan Heim. It`s quite interesting to see, as you can see the love scenes as they were originally intended, and see why the MPAA reacted so strongly to them.

All In The Family: Nick Cassavetes is a 12-minute featurette that looks at the director. There are plenty of interviews with cast and crew, some mention is made of his father John, and how he felt directing his mother Gena Rowlands in this film.

Nicholas Sparks: A Simple Story Well Told takes 7 minutes to focus on how the author wrote the book, and how it was eventually turned into the film.

Southern Exposure: Locating "The Notebook" is a 12-minute featurette that looks at the South Carolina locations used in filming.

Casting takes 4 minutes to look at the reasons why Rachel McAdams and Ryan Gosling were cast in the roles of Noah and Allie. There is also Rachel McAdams` 4-minute screen test, and it`s easy to see why she got the part.

No disc would be complete without a theatrical trailer.

Finally there are two commentaries on this disc.

The first is from director Nick Cassavetes. It`s a pretty straightforward yak track, with much detail on the filming process, casting and what he thought of the material. He`s an interesting speaker to listen to, despite his tendency to go off on a tangent and ramble.

The author Nicholas Sparks provides the second commentary and it`s a change to hear the author`s perspective on the film, what is different from the novel, and his opinion on the changes. It`s a welcome addition to the extras.

All of the extras, including the commentaries are subtitled in English.

Conclusion

The Notebook was certainly a pleasant surprise. I`m not the target demographic when it comes to love stories, and I must admit a certain trepidation as I placed the disc into my player. It was all quickly forgotten as I lost myself in the simple but compelling story. To wear out a cliché even further, it`s your classic tale of boy meets girl, boy loses girl, boy finds girl again. What makes it fresh is the narrative device of having Duke narrate the tale as he relates it to Miss Hamilton in the care home.

The casting also helps, and it`s easy to believe in the characters of Allie and Noah as Rachel McAdams and Ryan Gosling portray them. It`s not hard to root for the two to end up together. As the story unfolds, we also get drawn into the relationship between Duke and Miss Hamilton, and it`s pretty easy to guess the minor twist in the plot long before it arrives. It didn`t matter, as by then I was well and truly hooked.

The Notebook is one of those films that follows a tried and tested path, it`s like an orchestral piece that in the hands of a master conductor can tug at all the heartstrings, and leave the viewer an emotional wreck. The Notebook hits all the right notes on the way to its inevitable conclusion, and elicits the required emotional responses with an inevitability that is precise. That`s the cynic in me talking. The Notebook manages to be a classic love story simply by avoiding any sense of pretence. There are no sly winks at the audience, no misplaced wit, just an intense honesty to the characters that renders the story fresh and gripping. Just as it states in the extras, The Notebook is indeed a simple story well told, it is at its heart, sweet, tender and beautiful, and it managed to make this hardened heart melt.