Tailor made for teenage girls
This is a cringeworthy “chick flick”and unlike many posters, I’m going to prove it to you by breaking down how soft the story really is. Old fashioned romance that we’ve seen done over and over again. The only good thing about the movie is Rachel Portman’s haunting score.
It seems the filmmakers wanted to attempt to show audiences a man being a Man’s man. Ryan Gosling has to prove to the audience that he’s straight by firing guns at potential home buyers, rowing boats early in the morning just for kicks, and hanging off Ferris wheels so women can say “oh I love him he’s so macho!”
The whole film reeks of hillbilly standards. It seems made for conservative audiences that have never seen a real love story before. It seems packaged for the football player to take his dumb girlfriend to go see so he can say “that movie was actually really cool. Brought out my sensitive side.”
The Notebook showcases Ryan Gosling and Rachel McAdams as the typical Meet Cute couple who share passion and really cliche admiration for each other - she’s rich, he’s poor. Wow how unique is this plot line? We’ve never seen that before. Her parents don’t approve. His Dad of course does, because Sam Shepard always plays the same gentle character every single time.
It’s all told from the narrative of James Garner, some old dude living in a rest home and he reads it to Gena Rowlands- who has a big secret that is much more shocking then The Sixth Sense- she has dementia and can’t recall their life together! It’s so sad - NOT! Her nurse is played by a one note black actress who’s very fat, and very limited. I’m surprised they cast her over Viola Davis. Doesn’t Viola or Octavia usually play the token maid?
The movie seems aimed towards audiences in high school. I was so underwhelmed when I finally screened it since all my coffee shop coworkers said it was so good and “so different.” It’s the blandest flavor I’ve tasted in the romance field.
Also can we all agree together that Rachel McAdams SUCKS as an actress ? Mean Girls aside, she is annoying and completely vanilla. And the Notebook is no exception. She just isn’t convincing at all. Gosling is okay but again, the whole Macho Man attitude is really grating.
Final Grade: F