Pix Watch: The Notebook

The Notebook is a 2004 romance film directed by Nick Cassavetes, based on the novel of the same name by Nicholas Sparks. The film stars Ryan Gosling and Rachel McAdams as Noah and Allie, a young couple who fall in love during the early 1940s. Their story is narrated from the present day by an elderly man played by James Garner, telling the tale to a fellow patient, played by Gena Rowlands.

The movie focuses on an old man reading a story to an old woman in a nursing home. The story he reads follows two young lovers named Allie Hamilton and Noah Calhoun, who meet one evening at a carnival. But they are separated by Allie's parents who disapprove of Noah's unwealthy family, and move Allie away. After waiting for Noah to write her for several years, Allie meets and gets engaged to a handsome young soldier named Lon. Allie, then, with her love for Noah still alive, stops by Noah's 200-year-old home that he restored for her, "to see if he's okay". It is evident that they still have feelings for each other, and Allie has to choose between her fiancé and her first love.

The film received mixed reviews from critics. The review aggregate at Rotten Tomatoes reported that 51% of critics gave the film positive reviews, based on 142 reviews. Metacritic reported the film had an average score of 53 out of 100, based on 34 reviews.

The film was far more popular with women than with men. On the IMDb Women's Top 50 Films it is #30, but men only scored it 7.4/10, far off the equivalent list.

In September 2008, Yahoo did a poll and the movie was ranked the No. 1 as the most romantic movie between 35 different movies, voted by Yahoo users.

The film was released June 25, 2004 in the United States and Canada and grossed $13.4 million in 2,303 theaters its opening weekend, ranking #4 at the box office. The film grossed a total of $115.6 million worldwide — $81 million in the United States and Canada and $34.6 million elsewhere.