When you consider that old-fashioned tearjerkers are an endangered species in Hollywood, a movie like The Notebook can be embraced without apology. Yes, it's syrupy sweet and clogged with clich??s, and one can only marvel at the irony of Nick Cassavetes directing a weeper that his late father John--whose own films were devoid of saccharine sentiment--would have sneered at. Still, this touchingly impassioned and great-looking adaptation of the popular Nicholas Sparks novel has much to recommend, including appealing young costars (Ryan Gosling and Rachel McAdams) and appealing old costars (James Garner and Gena Rowlands, the director's mother) playing the same loving couple in (respectively) early 1940s and present-day North Carolina. He was poor, she was rich, and you can guess the rest; decades later, he's unabashedly devoted, and she's drifting into the memory-loss of senile dementia. How their love endured is the story preserved in the titular notebook that he reads to her in their twilight years. The movie's open to ridicule, but as a delicate tearjerker it works just fine. Message in a Bottle and A Walk to Remember were also based on Sparks novels, suggesting a triple-feature that hopeless romantics will cherish. --Jeff Shannon

I bought this dvd about three years ago having never heard of it at all before. It is the most wonderful film i have seen in a long time - deep, moving a stunning love story how and much, much better than most of the "blockbuster" films far more widely available. Buy it NOW!!

My friend at work said "Watch this tonight on the TV" and I did, I was captured immedietly, this is an emotional rollercoaster then going into the past and present. At the end you will end up crying even if you are a boy or girl granted.

This is a DVD to buy and can be watched again and again
Amazing movie one of the greatest romantic movies of the twenty-first century.

I know this is a controversial opinion, but I really didn't like 'The Notebook'. Unfortunately I bought the film based on reviews, having not seen it before. It's proof to me that everyone is different in their tastes.

I found this film boring and obtuse. The lead characters were unengaging, and I found myself really not caring what happened to them at all.

All in all, the film just didn't work for me, and I couldn't see what all the fuss was about.

I loved this film. I had heard of it before, but never bothered to watch it as didn't think it would be my thing. One day, I was bored and decided to watch it. From start to finish I was captivated by this film. And when it ended, I was sad. Really sad. What I loved most is how realistic it made it, you could almost feel the chemistry between the two and although I always wanted her to end up with Noah, you kind of like understand why it doesn't fit. But then it does. It shows how enduring love can be over all other forces, and really inspires people to show more love to their loved ones.

In all, it is the kind of love everyone dreams about. I loved this film, great pressie for anyone and a great watch if you want that sort of thing.

After putting off watching this film for many years, I finally bought the DVD earlier this year and decided to lose my 'the Notebook virginity' and take the plunge - now I have seen this film way more many times than I care to count, and am still loving every moment of it.

The story revolves around Allie Hamilton, a fun loving, hard-working, 17 year old girl from a very rich family, who, during a summer holiday at Seabrook, falls deeply in love with Noah Calhoun, a poor boy who loves her back with all his heart. But summer romances cannot last forever and eventually Allie's mother, Anne Hamilton, decides to interfere, telling her daughter that she was not born and brought up to waste her life on trash like Noah. The family leave the next day and return to the city, and although Noah writes to Allie everyday for the next day, not one of the 365 letters reached Allie because her mum, Anne, would hide them away. Eventually, believing all is over between her and Noah, Allie falls in love with the rich, intelligent and succesful Lon Hammond Jr, and agrees to marry him, but her destiny was interwined with Noah's, and it won't let her escape that easy.

The film is a romance, but whilst that catergory often induces terms such as 'cheesy, soppy, predictable, cleched' etc, 'the Notebook' breaks every one of them and gives a refreshing and different account of a story told too many times over for many, many years. The script is incredibly well writtem (except for a few awkward parts) considering it's genre, and the parts acted brilliant by all involved. Stand out perofmance must go to Rachel McAdams and Joan Allen (as Allie and her mother), although Ryan Gosling, James Marsden, David Thornton and Starletta DuPois probably all deserve a mention too.

(slight spoilers in this paragraph) One of my main faults with this film is that the Noah we see in the present time (the old Noah) is a completely different person to the Noah we see in the story. There are no similiraties between the two characters, except for their undying love for Allie, and although I understand that this may be to prevent the first time viewers from guessing the ending, it also takes away from the film by making it seem far less genuine.

I do love this film, but it is by no means one of the greatest films ever made. It is a beautiful tale of love, and the film grows on you and continues to surprise you on subsequent viewings 9which really is the mark of a good film), but being in the genre of romance it is rather limited, and although a very heart-warming and sad story, it will not be one to change the face of the film industry for years to come, but instead will be a film that many will enjoy, though no one could claim it to be the greatest film ever to be made.