Noah
After being separated for seven years after a summer of romance, Noah and Allie are reunited and Allie must choose between her new fiance and her first love.
It’s the year 1940 in Seabrook Island, South Carolina, and the local country boy, Noah Calhoun, is clinging to a bar at the top of the Ferris wheel at a local carnival. His intentions? To gain the affections of seventeen year-old heiress Allie Hamilton, whom he has just met. Noah speaks to Allie as he dangles at an alarming distance from the safe ground, and in her desperation, she agrees to go on a date with him. Despite her promise, Allie proves to be stubborn, and Noah’s continued efforts result in rejection. One magical night, however, Allie’s stubbornness inevitably fades.
The Notebook received several awards following its release in 2004, including the MTV Movie Award and the Golden Satellite Award. Its total box office earnings were over $115 million worldwide. The film, which is directed by Nick Cassavetes, is based on the best-selling novel by Nicholas Sparks, whose timeless love stories warm the hearts of teenagers and adults alike.
The story is being told by the aged Noah, who is reading from a notebook to a sufferer of Alzheimer’s disease in a present-day nursing home. As he reads, the viewers are taken back in time and experience Noah and Allie’s heart wrenching tale from the lovers’ perspective. Their love appears at first to be flawless and indestructible, but trouble soon intervenes with their otherwise perfect summer. Allie’s parents disapprove of Noah because of his low income and social status, and eventually insist that Allie not see him anymore. When Allie returns to her hometown at the end of the summer, Noah is left desperate and alone. Allie is heartbroken when she receives no letters from Noah, and believes that he has moved on.
Seven years later, Allie becomes engaged to a handsome young soldier named Lon, whom her parents enthusiastically approve of. As her excessively publicized wedding day approaches, she decides to return to Seabrook to “take care of some things,” and visits Noah for the first time since they were separated against their will. She finds more than a casual friendship with Noah, and now she must make the decision: will she be faithful to her fiancé, or will she be courted once again by her first love?
There were several elements that made this film so successful, including its powerful characters and well-drawn plot. Each actor and actress stayed true to their character, embodying them to the fullest extent. They made the film believable, and they carried the emotions of each situation down to the last line effortlessly. Their movement and dialogue were both perfectly maneuvered together to create awe-inspired responses.
After observing the outstanding performance presented by this cast and crew, viewers will be forced to think about the choices they make, and whether or not to follow their heart. The Notebook is essentially about Allie and Noah creating a destiny for themselves, but it moreover narrates the human story of what we long for, what we settle for, and who we're meant for.
