The Notebook is a 2004 American romantic drama film directed by Nick Cassavetes, from a screenplay by Jeremy Leven and Jan Sardi, and based on the 1996 novel of the same name by Nicholas Sparks.
Their story is read from a notebook in the present day by an elderly man, telling the tale to a fellow nursing home resident.
The Notebook had its world premiere at the Seattle International Film Festival on May 20, 2004, and was theatrically released in the United States on June 25, 2004.
[2][3][4][5] On November 11, 2012, an extended version premiered on ABC Family with deleted scenes added back into the original storyline.
At a modern-day nursing home, the elderly Duke reads a romantic story from a notebook to a female patient: In 1940, at a carnival in Seabrook Island, South Carolina, lumber mill worker Noah Calhoun sees 17-year-old heiress Allison "Allie" Hamilton, there for the summer.
Allie nurses wounded soldiers in a hospital, meeting Captain Lon Hammond Jr., a young lawyer who comes from old Southern money.
As Allie tries on her wedding dress, she sees a newspaper photo of Noah in front of the renovated house and faints.
She also reveals that she once loved a lower-class young man in town and still wonders how changed their lives would have been if she had chosen differently.
The film rights to Nicholas Sparks' novel were acquired by New Line Cinema in 1996, represented by producer Mark Johnson.
[9] Jeremy Leven was hired to write the script, which caught the attention of director Steven Spielberg in 1998,[10] who wished to film it with Tom Cruise as Noah Calhoun.
[20] When James Garner was approached for the role of the older Noah, he asked his agent if the script was for a television film, until he read it again and realized it had a universal appeal.
Actresses who auditioned or considered for the role included Jessica Biel,[22] Britney Spears,[23] Jaime King, Jane McGregor, Jennifer Lawrence, Kate Beckinsale, Kate Bosworth, Amy Adams, Mandy Moore, Scarlett Johansson, Claire Danes, Jennifer Love Hewitt, Ashley Judd, and Reese Witherspoon,[24][17][25] with the choice narrowed down to Britney Spears and Rachel McAdams with McAdams winning the role.
[32] Bradley Cooper was considered for Lon Hammond, while the studio pushed for Cole Hauser; but James Mardsen was eventually cast.
Specifically, the house that Noah is seen fixing up is a private residence at Wadmalaw Island,[35] another locality situated 10 miles (16 km) closer to Charleston.
Contrary to the suggestion in the film's dialogue, neither the house nor the Seabrook area was home to South Carolina Revolutionary hero Francis Marion, whose plantation was actually located northwest of Charleston.
Other locations included: Edisto Island, Cypress Gardens (in Moncks Corner, South Carolina)[35] with trained birds that were brought in from elsewhere.
The film was released on June 25, 2004, in the United States and Canada and grossed $13.5 million from 2,303 theaters in its opening weekend, ranking number 4 at the box office.
The website's critics consensus reads, "It's hard not to admire its unabashed sentimentality, but The Notebook is too clumsily manipulative to rise above its melodramatic clichés.
[45] Roger Ebert of the Chicago Sun-Times praised the film, awarding it three-and-a-half stars out of four, calling the photography "striking in its rich, saturated effects" and stating that the "actors are blessed by good material.
"[47] Stephen Holden of The New York Times gave the film a positive review, stating that "the scenes between the young lovers confronting adult authority have the same seething tension and lurking hysteria that the young Warren Beatty and Natalie Wood brought more than 40 years ago to their roles in Splendor in the Grass.
Gosling, who delivered a searing and largely unseen screen debut performance in the 2001 drama The Believer, is particularly convincing as a young man who charms his way past a girl's strongest defenses."
About the film, she added: "Audiences craving big, gooey over-the-top romance have their must-see summer movie in The Notebook.
"[50] Wesley Morris of The Boston Globe gave the film two-and-a-half stars, praising the performances of its cast members, writing about McAdams that "she's soulfully committed to the suds in the story and fiercely attentive to the other actors".
About the film, he wrote: "Considering the sunny, relatively pleasurable romantic business that precedes it, the elderly stuff seems dark, morbid, and forced upon us.
"[51] Jessica Winter of The Village Voice gave the film a mixed review, stating: "Amid the sticky-sweet swamp of Jeremy Leven's script, Rowlands and Garner emerge spotless and beatific, lending a magnanimous credibility to their scenes together.
These two old pros slice cleanly through the thicket of sap-weeping dialogue and contrivance, locating the terror and desolation wrought by the cruel betrayals of a failing mind.
"[52] Robert Koehler of Variety also gave the film a mixed review, he however, praised the performances, writing that "already one of the most intriguing young thesps, Gosling extends his range to pure romance without sacrificing a bit of his naturally subversive qualities, and even seems comfortable looking beautiful in a manly American way.
[59] In 2011, The Notebook was named the best chick-flick during ABC News and People's television special Best in Film: The Greatest Movies of Our Time.
[60] The scene where Noah climbs the Ferris Wheel because he wants a date with Allie made the list of Total Film's 50 Most Romantic Movie Moments of All Time.
Adding, "It’s a significant leap in artistic quality over its sources, which it respects, while also providing a clear, resonant, and unique voice of its own.