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The notebook.

• Common Sense Says
• Parents Say 35 Reviews
• Kids Say 107 Reviews

Common Sense Media Review

By Nell Minow , based on child development research. How do we rate?

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

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…

Why Age 14+?

Steamy passion between the two young lovers. Lots of making out and heavy pettin

A 17-year-old smokes a cigar. Adults drink cocktails, wine, champagne, and beer.

Noah and Finn are engaged in active duty during World War II. There's a bomb rai

Words/phrases used include "damn," "crap," "goddammit," "son of a bitch," and "p

Any Positive Content?

The movie's ultimate message is that true love conquers all. But there are also

Predominantly White cast, with most Black characters shown in stereotypical role

Though it's romantic to watch characters fall in love so wholly and stay devoted

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

Parent and Kid Reviews

• Parents say (35)
• Kids say (107)

Based on 35 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 : August 7, 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

What to watch next.

A Walk to Remember

Love Actually

Romance movies, drama movies that tug at the heartstrings.

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The Notebook Reviews

The Notebook is one of those movies that is so sad, you could break out into tears just thinking about it.

Full Review | Oct 23, 2023

A tearjerker? It'll make you cry but it's not manipulative. A chick flick? It's just an inspiring love story that will touch your heart and make you believe true love can last a lifetime and conquer all. Isn't that what we all want?

Full Review | Original Score: 4/5 | Apr 21, 2023

There is always cinema room for the unabashed tearjerker, & THE N delivers on that "note." Any film that has Gena Rowlands in it will at least shine when she is on the screen & this was no exception. David Thornton with a handlebar mustache ... exquisite!

Full Review | Original Score: 3.5/5 | Feb 25, 2023

Though torn between two storylines, one of which vastly outshines the other, "The Notebook" is still an impressive production.

Full Review | Original Score: 8/10 | Nov 7, 2020

Intelligently adapted and written by Jan Sardi, this is the tear-jerker of the summer. A chick flick? Yes. Classic Hollywood romance? Yes. Will it touch your heart? Without a doubt...

Full Review | Nov 13, 2019

James Garner and Gena Rowlands lend the story a graceful gravity that perhaps the rest of the film's more simplistic romanticism doesn't deserve.

Full Review | Original Score: 2/5 | Oct 31, 2019

Never quite escapes the been-there-done-that feeling of Hollywood romantic cliché with sunny photography and perfectly tailored costumes to boot.

Full Review | Original Score: 2/4 | Jun 5, 2019

Frank Capra would be proud of the way Nick Cassavetes pulls at the heart strings... Have tissues at the ready.

Full Review | Original Score: 3/5 | Apr 18, 2019

The Notebook is a ghastly piece of oldie slush which is tediously orchestrated by Nick Cassavetes.

Full Review | Feb 2, 2019

The Notebook is the kind of syrupy, heightened melodrama more likely to be found in the pages of a Mills & Boon paperback than on the silver screen.

Full Review | Original Score: 2.5/5 | Feb 2, 2019

In a romance where paradise is a duck-filled pond, it helps to be mild-mannered.

Dentistry in the Renaissance could not have been more painful than watching this.

Full Review | Original Score: 1/5 | Feb 2, 2019

The Notebook is premium romantic schlock and confirms director Nick Cassavetes (Rowlands' son) as a specialist in the genre after John Q in 2002.

Two good, young performers and a couple of not-too-shabby older ones not only make The Notebook worth watching but distinguish the film as one of the year's more pleasant surprises.

Full Review | Original Score: 4/5 | Feb 2, 2019

The Notebook is a thoroughly old-fashioned romantic melodrama awash with misty-eyed sentiment as it charts the obstacles placed in the path of two young lovers from opposite sides of the social divide.

A shameless tear-jerker and as corny as they come, this retro romantic drama skilfully pushes all the right emotional buttons.

Full Review | Original Score: 3/5 | Feb 2, 2019

A honey-dipped love story with a surprisingly tart aftertaste, The Notebook is a better-than-you'd-expect adaptation of Nicholas Sparks's bestselling novel of the same name.

A story about true love that makes you cry, the kind you don't forget. [Full Review in Spanish]

Full Review | Original Score: 8.5/10 | Feb 2, 2019

What saves Notebook, or at least lifts it above itself, are the hints of hard-won grit that both Gosling and Garner inject into their characters.

Sure, The Notebook's story of first love tends toward the histrionic and self-important. But if that's case, perhaps Cassavetes, like Shakespeare, simply knows how to give the people what they want.

Full Review | Feb 7, 2018

• Cast & crew
• User reviews

The Notebook

An elderly man reads to a woman with dementia the story of two young lovers whose romance is threatened by the difference in their respective social classes. An elderly man reads to a woman with dementia the story of two young lovers whose romance is threatened by the difference in their respective social classes. An elderly man reads to a woman with dementia the story of two young lovers whose romance is threatened by the difference in their respective social classes.

• Nick Cassavetes
• Jeremy Leven
• Nicholas Sparks
• Gena Rowlands
• James Garner
• Rachel McAdams
• 1.4K User reviews
• 137 Critic reviews
• 53 Metascore
• 12 wins & 10 nominations

Top cast 80

• Allie Calhoun

• Nurse Esther
• Nurse Keith

• Nurse at Counter

• Nurse Selma

• Sara Tuffington
• Matthew Jamison III
• Seabrook Boy

• Seabrook Girl
• All cast & crew
• Production, box office & more at IMDbPro

More like this

Did you know

• Trivia Ryan Gosling prepared for his role by living in Charleston, South Carolina before filming began. For two months, he rowed the Ashley River every morning and built furniture during the day.
• Goofs The narrator says, "And after two years of chasing Erwin Rommel through the North African desert..." American forces fought in North Africa from November 1942 to May 1943 - just 6 months.

Noah : I am nothing special; just a common man with common thoughts, and I've led a common life. There are no monuments dedicated to me and my name will soon be forgotten. But in one respect I have succeeded as gloriously as anyone who's ever lived: I've loved another with all my heart and soul; and to me, this has always been enough.

• Alternate versions The love scenes had to be toned down to avoid an R rating in the United States. The footage is featured on the DVD as deleted scenes. There is no explicit nudity or actual sex shown. Any "sex" scenes were edited down to implied sex instead.
• Connections Edited into The Notebook: Deleted Scenes (2005)
• Soundtracks I'll Be Seeing You Written by Sammy Fain and Irving Kahal Performed by Billie Holiday and Jimmy Durante Courtesy of The Verve Music Group and Warner Bros. Records Inc. Under license from Universal Music Enterprises By arrangement with Warner Strategic Marketing

User reviews 1.4K

• filmnoir500
• Feb 9, 2005
• June 25, 2004 (United States)
• United States
• Official Facebook
• Warner Bros (United States)
• Diario de una pasión
• Cypress Gardens - 3030 Cypress Gardens Road, Moncks Corner, South Carolina, USA (Boat / Swan scene)
• New Line Cinema
• Gran Via Productions
• See more company credits at IMDbPro
• $29,000,000 (estimated)
• $81,417,274
• $13,464,745
• Jun 27, 2004
• $118,262,229

Technical specs

• Runtime 2 hours 3 minutes
• Dolby Digital

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• DVD & Streaming

The Notebook

• Drama , Romance

Content Caution

In Theaters

• Rachel McAdams as young Allie Hamilton; Ryan Gosling as young Noah Calhoun; Gena Rowlands as elderly Allie; James Garner as elderly Noah; Joan Allen as Anne Hamilton; David Thornton as John Hamilton; James Marsden as Lon; Sam Shepard as Frank Calhoun; Kevin Connolly as Fin

Home Release Date

• Nick Cassavetes

Distributor

• New Line Cinema

Movie Review

I am nothing special, of this I am sure. I am a common man with common thoughts and I’ve led a common life. There are no monuments dedicated to me and my name will soon be forgotten, but I’ve loved another with all my heart and soul, and to me, this has always been enough.

So opens The Notebook against the backdrop of a spectacular sunset over a lake, grabbing our hearts and never letting go as the extraordinary love story of Allie and Noah unfolds.

It begins at the end. Every day his failing health allows, an octogenarian shuffles down the corridors of a nursing home and enters an old woman’s room. Her mind is riddled by Alzheimer’s disease, but as the man reads from the handwritten pages of a worn notebook, science is defied and her memory is sparked by the timeless story of their love. …

The chronicle he reads begins one summer in 1930s North Carolina. Poor country boy Noah Calhoun meets rich city girl Allie Hamilton and is instantly attracted. Soon the two are inseparable, spending every waking moment together. He shows her how to have good ol’ country-style fun; she invites him into her world of fine arts and garden parties. By the end of the summer the teen soul mates have given their hearts, and most of their purity, to each other.

There’s just one problem: Allie’s parents have her future all planned out, and Noah doesn’t fit the picture of the wealthy, blue-blooded husband they have in mind for her. So without giving the young lovers a chance to even say goodbye, Mrs. Hamilton packs her little girl off to a fancy women’s college. Noah writes to Allie every day for a year, but never receives a reply. Unaware of parental deception, Allie and Noah are each devastated at the perceived abandonment by the other. They slowly rebuild their lives apart, haunted by memories of their first love.

Noah survives a stint in Patton’s third army during WWII, then returns to buy and restore his dream home, all the while fighting off Allie’s ghost. Allie gets an art degree and becomes a volunteer army nurse before settling down to the life her parents dreamed of. But why does she see Noah’s face while accepting the rich and handsome Lon’s proposal? When all hope seems lost, “fate” intervenes and they’re given a second chance at love.

Positive Elements

Noah’s dad models selflessness and generosity of spirit to his son. He teaches him to build a relationship one memory at a time by sharing life’s simple joys like fishing and eating pancakes at midnight. He also instills in his young son a love of poetry by having him repeatedly recite Walt Whitman to overcome a speech impediment. Noah’s love of the written word is embraced by Allie, and their shared passion for expressing their feelings in writing becomes the life support of their relationship. (In today’s high-tech world, it’s refreshing to find a story that upholds the power of the written word.)

Mrs. Hamilton redeems her broken relationship with her daughter by returning Noah’s letters at a critical moment and sharing a story from her own youth that helps Allie choose what path she will take. Noah’s example of placing his wife before all others is an inspiration to a generation taught to put their own needs first. He also makes it clear that love is hard, everyday work, and that squabbles don’t have to undo it. Ultimately, he gives up his beloved home and personal life to reside in a separate wing at her nursing home, not for health reasons, but to allow himself constant access to Allie.

Another poignant lesson here is that all human life has value. The elderly and mentally disabled still have much to offer and are not ready to be cast by society into the invisible realm of shadow people. This is reflected not only in the relationship between the aging Allie and Noah, but also in the compassionate treatment they receive from nursing home attendants who come up with creative ways to accommodate patients’ emotional and physical needs.

Spiritual Elements

The narrator, commenting on the doctor’s prognosis of Allie’s dementia, says, “Science only comes so far and then comes God.” He also speaks of the “miracle” of love. While Allie and Noah never discuss spiritual matters (except for lighthearted banter about being a bird in some past life), their love matures into the embodiment of God’s ideal expressed in 1 Corinthians 13.

Sexual & romantic Content

Author Nicholas Sparks told ChristianityToday.com that he believed his stories (most notably A Walk to Remember ) resonated with Christians because, “I have certain moral parameters that I do not cross in writing; I don’t write about adultery or kids having premarital sex.” His book The Notebook mentions (briefly) that the teenage Noah and Allie “both lost their virginity.” This movie, however, translates those four words into an onscreen romp that’ll leave families squirming uncomfortably in their seats. After exchanging promises, Noah and Allie shed their clothes one piece at a time, then engage in totally nude foreplay. (Calculated positioning of arms, legs and the camera, along with the low light, obscures both bodies’ most “delicate” parts.) Allie’s remaining virtue is rescued (and moviegoers’ along with her) when Noah’s best friend barges in and tells them Allie’s folks have the cops out looking for them.

Years later the now-adult couple’s second tryst, and actual consummation of their passions (an event written about in considerably detail in the book) occurs long into Allie’s engagement to a “good man” that she says more than once she’s in love with. She playfully rebukes Noah’s advances with, “You wouldn’t dare. I’m a married woman!” He counters by reminding her she isn’t married yet . They then commence a two-day love affair that, because of its fiery intensity and just-shy of explicit nudity feels like it lasts at least that long onscreen.

Thinking Allie is lost to him forever, Noah “takes the sting of loneliness” away by becoming bed buddies with a war widow named Martha. (Sex is implied when Martha gets out of bed nude; she’s seen from the back, from the waist up.) Martha knows he’s thinking of another woman during their romps but accepts his explanation that “the things you want are all broken, gone.” Martha goes over to Noah’s house after he’s reunited with Allie and asks to meet his “one.” Inexplicably, instead of being jealous, Martha is inspired by the love she sees. Her parting words to Noah are, “For the first time since I lost [my husband], I feel like I have something to look forward to.”

Elsewhere, Allie licks ice cream off Noah’s face on a public street (risqué stuff for 1930s rural America). And he slaps her bottom as she gets out of his truck. A nude Allie is seen painting (waist up from the back). A few characters wear revealing outfits.

Violent Content

Allie pushes and slaps Noah several times during a heated argument. (To his credit, Noah refuses to retaliate.) Noah’s best friend, Fin, dies in battle. (War images are brief and tempered.)

Crude or Profane Language

A half-dozen misuses of God’s name (three of “g–d–n”), and a dozen or so other mild profanities (“a–,” “h—,” “d–n”). The elderly Allie, commenting on a notebook passage, says, “She should have told them to stick it where the sun don’t shine.”

Drug and Alcohol Content

The narrator tells us that Noah goes on a 10-day drinking binge after seeing Allie with her fiancé, Lon. Indeed, both Noah and Allie drink quite a bit to smother their pain. Allie and Lon seem a bit tipsy while drinking champagne at a nightclub. Lon has a casual drink in his office. When the adult Allie and Noah have beers with dinner, she tells him she’s a cheap drunk. Guests at a party drink and smoke cigarettes. WWII soldiers and Lon also inhale.

Other noteworthy Elements

A few juvenile hijinks don’t cause much of a ruffle onscreen, but could result in real-life unhappy endings if imitated: An impetuous young Noah dangles from the heights of a Ferris wheel with one hand to capture Allie’s attention. (She responds by undoing his pants and revealing his boxers.) When Noah challenges Allie to lie down in the middle of an intersection (remember, this is rural America) in the middle of the night, she asks, “What happens if a car comes?” His deadpan reply? “You die. You have to learn to trust.” Elsewhere, army recruits are seen nude. (Their hands cover their privates.)

Allie’s parents make no secret of the fact that they believe Noah isn’t worthy of their daughter. They like him all right, he’s just not rich enough and doesn’t have the right daddy. On the night of the couple’s breakup, Noah overhears Allie’s mother calling him “trash, trash, trash!” Mrs. Hamilton’s deception of hiding Noah’s letters from Allie succeeds in keeping the couple apart for years, but at the cost of a strained mother-daughter relationship.

Some will write The Notebook off as yet another emotionally manipulative and overly-sappy “chick flick.” But because it looks so tenderly at an elderly couple stricken by Alzheimer’s, others will find themselves attracted to it, placing themselves into the story and living out its emotion. It might also be seen as a timely reflection of the deep and lasting loved shared by Nancy and Ronald Reagan, whose love story has made a permanent cultural impression. Just as Nancy’s commitment and love transcended the emotional and physical gulf that marked her husband’s disease, so Noah’s steadfast love for Allie sustains them.

Nicholas Sparks has said his story “is a metaphor for God’s love for us all. The theme is everlasting, unconditional love. It also goes into the sanctity of marriage and the beauty you can find in a loving relationship.” Although that metaphor gets more than a little muddied by premarital sex, Noah and Allie ultimately realize the full potential of mature love. Most romantic dramas only celebrate the chaotic, spontaneous flush of young love, serving it up as the pinnacle of the relationship before either settling down on a complacent plateau or crashing down the slippery slope of dysfunction. Sparks’ movie shows a rare understanding of the kind of love God desires for married couples, a once-in-a-lifetime deep intimacy of spirit, expressed without boundaries and growing in strength and loveliness as time goes by. It is the kind of soul-satisfying love that God established as a demonstration of His own love for His people, hence the author’s metaphor. That makes it all the more regrettable that steamy sex scenes will give a lot of adults reason to pause, and push the tale (at least unedited) out-of-bounds for discerning teens.

Rhonda Handlon

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Movie Reviews

'the notebook': a grim fable of cruelty in wartime.

Ella Taylor

László Gyémánt and András Gyémánt star in The Notebook. Christian Berger/Courtesy of Sony Pictures Classics hide caption

László Gyémánt and András Gyémánt star in The Notebook.

At first blush, the Hungarian film The Notebook (no relation, trust me, to that other Notebook ) seems to be gearing up as a standard World War II weepie with clumsy plotting. It's 1944; the war is almost done; a father returns home on leave; brief scenes of domestic bliss follow. Then, out of the blue, Dad (Ulrich Matthes), seemingly worried that his twin sons would be "too conspicuous in wartime," packs them off to live with their grandmother in the countryside. Handing them a notebook, he tells them to record everything that happens to them.

In short order and against the grain of its bucolic naturalism, The Notebook slyly morphs into a grim fable of progressive human degradation. Either that or, if you've read your Brothers Grimm, it's a Calvinist fairy tale of extreme character-building. Grandma (a terrific Piroska Molnar) turns out to be a lush, a nasty witch and possibly a poisoner. She calls the boys "bastards," sets them to work chopping wood, and withholds tender letters from their mother (Gyongyver Bognar). The Nazi officer billeted in her barn (Danish actor Ulrich Thomsen, from The Celebration ), who's either a predator or a protector, or both, proclaims himself the boys' "friend."

Joining forces with a village girl thief they call Hare Lip, the boys (played by twins Laszlo and Andras Gyemant) take on the hypocritical priest and his sexually abusive maid. They try to protect a kindly Jewish cobbler from a Nazi roundup. They bring food and blankets to an AWOL soldier.

Note that none of this is done out of fellow feeling. Note also that the handsome twins acquire a mean zombie stare to match their own increasingly savage behavior. They slap one another around, devise savage endurance tests for themselves, practice random acts of cruelty. Indeed, the boys seem to be fulfilling, in its purest form, the task allotted to every Grimm child: to toughen up in preparation for life's adversities in and out of wartime. Fear-based discipline, that's the ticket!

So what exactly is The Notebook, which is based on an acclaimed novel by Hungarian writer Agota Kristof and directed with panache by Janos Szasz? For sure, it's more than a picaresque wartime action adventure, or even a cautionary tale of Protestant spine-stiffening and abstract ethics. Maybe it's a parable of Freudian individuation and separation from mom and dad?

Possibly, but there's more to this than coming of age, though it may surprise you to learn who finally equips the boys with what they need to grow up and begin to live as adults. And that one of the boys walks over the corpse of a close relative whom the twins have essentially sent to that person's death.

Straddling nihilism and a moral fastidiousness so "pure" it flirts with the very fascism it means to critique, The Notebook cedes not one solitary inch to humanism. That is a time-honored strategy in the theater of cruelty, which is predicated on pushing an argument as far as it will go. It's a gambit that allows the artist to examine questions of good and evil without gumming up the works with easy sentimentality.

As moral and intellectual inquiry, though, it's also a blunt instrument that flattens crucial distinctions between degrees and kinds of wrongdoing. Should we equate Nazi genocide with the rape and beatings practiced by Russian liberators? Is innocence of its nature evil? Is the cruelty of children equivalent to that of adults?

If nothing else, The Notebook runs exuberantly counter to American melioration, optimism and the horticultural view of nurturant parenting that dominates our culture. Which may be why, in 2013, having made it to the long list of foreign language films up for an Oscar, the film stayed right there. I wouldn't bet on its prospects as mommy-blog click bait either.

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The notebook.

Directed by Nick Cassavetes

Behind every great love is a great story.

An epic love story centered around an older man who reads aloud to a woman with Alzheimer's. From a faded notebook, the old man's words bring to life the story about a couple who is separated by World War II, and is then passionately reunited, seven years later, after they have taken different paths.

Ryan Gosling Rachel McAdams Gena Rowlands James Garner Joan Allen David Thornton James Marsden Kevin Connolly Sam Shepard Starletta DuPois Ed Grady Jennifer Echols Heather Wahlquist Cullen Moss Traci Dinwiddie James Middleton Peter Rosenfeld Obba Babatundé Chuck Pacheco Todd Lewis Mark Johnson Robert Fraisse Barbara Weetman Daniel Chamblin Sasha Azevedo Jamie Anne Allman Rebecca Koon Sandra Elise Williams Deborah Hobart Show All… Sylvia Jefferies Mark Garner Scott Ritenour Milton Buras Elizabeth Bond Matthew Barry Nancy De Mayo Renée Amber Tim O'Brien Meredith O'Brien Geoffrey Knight Andrew Schaff Tim Ivey Anthony-Michael Q. Thomas Matt Shelly Michael D. Fuller Jonathan Parks Jordan Leslea Fisher Jude Kitchens Pat Leonard Kweli Leapart Frederick Bingham Daniel Czekalski Bradley D. Capshaw James Scott Deaton Eve Kagan Stephanie Wheeler Erin Guzowski John Cundari Hugh Robertson Robert Washington Robert Ivey Sherril M. Turner Meredith Zealy Julianne Keller Lewis Madison Wayne Ellis Riley Novak Ronald Betts Paul Johansson David Abrams Bruce Williamson Bob Forrest Taylor Engel

Director Director

Nick Cassavetes

Producers Producers

Mark Johnson Lynn Harris

Writers Writers

Jeremy Leven Jan Sardi

Original Writer Original Writer

Nicholas Sparks

Casting Casting

Nancy Green-Keyes Matthew Barry Lisa Hamil

Editor Editor

Cinematography cinematography.

Robert Fraisse

Executive Producers Exec. Producers

Avram Butch Kaplan Toby Emmerich

Production Design Production Design

Sarah Knowles

Art Direction Art Direction

Scott Ritenour

Set Decoration Set Decoration

Chuck Potter

Special Effects Special Effects

Bob Shelley

Stunts Stunts

Cal Johnson George P. Wilbur David McKeown Nicole Randall Jodi Michelle Pynn Christina Ritzi Rex Reddick Ted Larkin Deborah L. Mazor Dale Frye Patrick Kerton Robert Brubaker Gary Combs Marcello Bezina Jean Frenette

Composer Composer

Aaron Zigman

Sound Sound

Rickley W. Dumm Claude Letessier Jason King Brad Sherman Jon Taylor Paul Timothy Carden Kelly Cabral Jonathan Gaynor

Costume Design Costume Design

Karyn Wagner

Makeup Makeup

Linda Grimes

Hairstyling Hairstyling

Milton Buras

New Line Cinema Avery Pix Gran Via Productions

Releases by Date

20 may 2004, 19 apr 2024, 25 jun 2004, 02 jul 2004, 13 aug 2004, 27 aug 2004, 01 sep 2004, 08 sep 2004, 30 sep 2004, 07 oct 2004, 14 oct 2004, 22 oct 2004, 26 nov 2004, 24 jun 2005, 02 sep 2004, 03 sep 2004, 01 oct 2004, 05 feb 2005, 24 feb 2005, 22 mar 2005, 03 feb 2009, 02 sep 2009, 31 mar 2012, 14 may 2008, releases by country.

• Theatrical PG
• Theatrical 14
• Premiere Beijing International Film Festival
• Digital 15+
• Theatrical TP
• Theatrical 6
• Theatrical 12A

Netherlands

• TV 6 RTL 5
• Physical 6 DVD
• Physical 6 Blu-ray
• Theatrical M/12
• Theatrical 12+
• Physical 12+ DVD
• Physical 12+ Blu-ray

South Korea

• Theatrical 15
• Theatrical 7
• Theatrical Btl

Switzerland

• Premiere Seattle International Film Festival
• Theatrical PG-13

123 mins   More at IMDb TMDb Report this page

Popular reviews

Review by SARAH🦕 ★★★★ 26

He built her a Mojo Dojo Casa House🥹

Review by sophie ★★★½ 26

This review may contain spoilers. I can handle the truth.

why do women keep cheating on james marsden in movies? he seems nice, and I’d marry him for that riff he does in hairspray alone

Review by Gabby Rose ★★½ 10

me 5 minutes into the movie: this is so cheesy and unrealistic ryan gosling: *hanging off of a ferris wheel* me: need me a freak like that..

Review by shannon ★★★★ 5

you see all that rain? that's actually just my tears

Review by alina 5

can you BELIEVE that ryan gosling cured dementia???

Review by zach ★★★½ 6

mean girls and notebook in the same year nobody was doing it like her

Review by Taz ★★★ 4

"what happens if a car comes?" "we die."

need me a freak like that

Review by gal pacino ★★★½ 11

fav part is when ryan gosling wakes up after a night of lovemaking on the floor of a plantation (🥴) and tells rachel mcadams he wants “pancakes, bacon, and chicken.” just a bonkers breakfast order. pancakes and bacon? ok! pancakes and chicken? sure, i guess! bacon and chicken? gonna have to stop you there

Review by Wes ★ 15

ryan gosling: if ur a bird im a bird

me: *belches so loudly my house explodes*

Review by shaderuston ★★½ 13

remember in 2004 when joking about killing yourself so a girl would agree to a date was considered cute

Review by cerys ½ 17

Noah would definitely send me a snap saying ‘I’m so ugly 🥺’ and then 10 seconds later ask me why i didn’t reply

Review by ☆ sophie ☆ ★★★ 15

No matter how much you love each other, you both will grow old and die. 🥰

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The Notebook Review

25 Jun 2004

124 minutes

Notebook, The

Following the tradition of Fried Green Tomatoes, this romantic weepy relates a tale in the hope that its modern-day protagonists ù who may well have played a part in the story themselves - will be better for hearing it.

But, on film at least, this story might have been better without its modern-day protagonists, played by James Garner and Gena Rowlands (Cassavetes' mother). Garner's narration smacks of greeting-card sentiment and the Alzheimer's storyline, in which Rowlands' character has lost her memory, is oversimplified.

Thank goodness, then, for the magic created by young stars Ryan Gosling and Rachel McAdams, whose intense romance is played out with conviction and an infectious joie de vivre. Little in their journey is unexpected: you're waiting for the obstacle (after all, what self-respecting young lady in the 1940s would have been seen without two handsome suitors to compete over her?), and the solution is not hard to spot, either.

But thanks to delightful characters, careful pacing and a stirring score, this film achieves the distinction of being exceptionally moving without anyone major having to die.

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‘The Notebook’ is a dumpster fire and I didn’t realize it 15 years ago

It was June 2004. I was a teenager so proud of the mascara stains that trailed my cheeks. They were proof that I didn’t just tear up; I cried so hard  at "The Notebook." I felt invigorated, impassioned. I was alive!

And I was thereafter obsessed with the movie.

The Nicholas Sparks adaptation, a 1940s-set romance starring Rachel McAdams and Ryan Gosling as summer lovers with family income discrepancies, would go on to inspire my MySpace wallpaper, top my “favorite movies” list and become required viewing for my confused high-school boyfriends.

That was then.

Ahead of the drama's 15th anniversary on June 25, I decided to revisit the sob story now that I’m a less-hormonal 30. How would I like it?

It turns out, well, I would not. I would not like it at all.

Reader, I finally realized that “The Notebook” is a dangerous dumpster fire. I am embarrassed that I fell for a tale about a stalker who likes the way a girl looks on a carnival ride, and so he spends the rest of his life pining for her, despite not appreciating anything else about her.

How do I despise The Notebook? Let me count the ways. 

Noah is a total creep

Remember Noah and Allie’s not-so-cute meeting?

He spots her at a carnival, where she’s laughing and crashing a bumper car, and instantly decides that she looks gorgeous and "free" and he must have her. 

After she politely declines his overtures, he follows her onto a Ferris wheel and proceeds to dangle from the ride by one hand , threatening to slip unless Allie agrees to go on a date with him. She’s forced to say yes.

I'm forced to yell, "This is bull!" at my TV.

Once Allie and Noah get to talking, he insults her

When they finally do get together, Allie opens up about her "strict schedule" of tutoring and music lessons, and Noah makes her feel insecure about not being as "free" as he believed. He convinces her to loosen up, to "learn how to trust," and to lie on the street with him until they’re both almost run over by a car. She laughs, because, ha, they nearly died.  

Ha. Ha. This is garbage that doesn't show how real, compatible humans fall in love. But the leads are so distractingly handsome, I didn't notice before.

Noah and Allie don't actually like each other when they're not sucking face

Noah and Allie spend a summer making out, yelling at each other for being annoying and learning that they have nothing in common. The closest thing they have to a real conversation is an inane chat about how if one if them had been a bird in another life, naturally, the other would’ve been, too.

They break up, but don’t mean it. Noah writes Allie letters for 365 days in a row that go unanswered, and in the years that follow, makes no friends and decides that the single thing he should do with his life is restore a house for a girl he can't stand.

In Allie’s titular notebook (from which this story is told via flashback with Gena Rowlands and James Garner as the elder Allie and Noah), she writes: “They didn’t agree on much. In fact, they rarely agreed on anything.”

Can we all agree that this is unhealthy? And, frankly, just bad storytelling?

Lon should be the hero of the story; instead he's the barrier

While Allie is at college, Noah-less, she volunteers as a nurse's aide and meets Lon (played by James Marsden), a charming man in a full body cast. Once Lon (miraculously) heals, Allie accepts his offer to go dancing without being threatened to do so. They embark on a relationship filled with mutual respect, admiration and fondness for one another. By the way, Lon is rich, which is depicted as a character flaw.

After they get engaged and Allie sees Noah’s photo in the paper, she tells Lon she must take care of something. 

“Take your time," Lon says, comfortingly. "Do whatever you need to do.” 

What Allie needs to do is visit Noah, sleep with him and swoon over him. That's before Noah starts yelling “What do you want?!” at her, and promising a future filled with fights.

"You tell me when I’m being an arrogant (S.O.B.) and I tell you when you’re being a pain in the (butt), which you are 99% of the time!” Noah shouts at her.

What an offer of lifelong bliss!

Meanwhile, Lon doesn’t raise his voice after learning of Allie's infidelity.

“In spite of everything, I love you,” he says. “But I don’t want to convince my fiancée that she should be with me.”

Now tell me: Why would Allie choose Noah over Lon? 

Probably because she confuses security with boredom, and mistakes verbal abuse for passion. Also: She thinks that the fact that she no longer paints is an indicator that she's unhappy in her relationship. Really, it might be an indicator that she doesn't actually like to paint. 

'The Notebook' is bad but its messaging is worse

Hiding a shallow love story behind attractive actors isn't itself terribly negligent. But the movie does far worse than that.

It doesn't help that the film is tainted by recent news about its novelist. Sparks has been in headlines for  sending and then apologizing for  past emails that object to “an agenda that strives to make homosexuality open and accepted." 

But even on its own, "The Notebook" teaches impressionable young women that they ought to be pursued by men who see them as prey. (Noah literally says this about Allie: "When I see something that I like, well ... I go crazy for it.")

Essentially, the film romanticizes toxic relationships and promulgates an unhealthy culture of jerk worship. My teenage self deserved better. 

I must admit, the geriatric scenes still get me

Full disclosure: I still teared up at the scenes where old Noah insists on reading to old Allie, who has dementia and little chance of remembering him. Darn it, that is romantic! 

But as for the rest of the movie, well, I’ll say this: It still did make me feel a lot, like it did the first time. It's just that this time, I understood my emotions as anger.

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The Notebook

Dove review.

Allie’s husband demonstrates a life-long commitment to his spouse “in sickness or in health.” He never leaves her side, and his unfailing devotion and love for her is an inspiring portrait of marriage. The film did unfortunately contain an intimate sex scene between a man and woman outside of the context of marriage. There is some crude language and profanity, but it is moderate compared to many PG-13 films. The overall moral content of the film is less than admirable but is also comparatively mild.

Dove Rating Details

More information, film information, dove content.

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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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