The Notebook

Director: Nick Cassavetes Nick Cassavetes

Overview

"Directed by Nick Cassavetes, this adaptation of author Nicholas Sparks' bestselling novel revolves around Noah Calhoun's (James Garner) regular visits to a female patron (Gena Rowlands) of an area nursing home. Rather than bore her with the inanities of everyday life, Calhoun reads from an old, faded notebook containing the sweeping account of a young couple (Ryan Gosling and Rachel McAdams) whose love affair was tragically put to a halt after their separation in the midst of World War II. Seven years later, the couple was reunited, and, despite having taken radically different paths, they found themselves unable to resist the call of a second chance. The Notebook also features Joan Allen, Sam Shepard, and Kevin Connolly."

Product Details

Release Date:	02/08/2005
UPC:	0794043749728
Original Release:	2004
Rating:	PG-13
Source:	New Line Home Video
Region Code:	1
Presentation:	[Full Frame, Wide Screen]
Sound:	[Dolby Digital Surround EX]
Language:	English
Time:	2:04:00
Sales rank:	1,498

Special Features

Closed Caption;12 deleted scenes with optional director commentary; "All in the Family: Nick Cassavetes" featurette; "Nicholas Sparks: A Simple Story, Well Told" featurette; "Southern Exposure: Locating the Notebook" featurette; "Casting Rachel and Ryan" featurette; Director Nick Cassavetes commentary; Novelist Nicholas Sparks commentary; Rachel McAdams screen test and more

Cast & Crew

Performance Credits

Ryan Gosling	Noah
Rachel McAdams	Allie
James Garner	Duke,Lon's Employee
Gena Rowlands	Allie
James Marsden	Lon Hammond
Sam Shepard	Frank Calhoun
David Thornton	John Hamilton
Joan Allen	Anne Hamilton
Kevin Connolly	Fin
Tim Ivey	Rower,Dressmaker
Starletta DuPois	Esther
Anthony-Michael Q. Thomas	Keith
Ed Grady	Harry
Renee Amber	Nurse At Counter
Jennifer Echols	Nurse Selma
Geoffrey Knight	Barker
Heather Wahlquist	Sara Tuffington
Andrew Schaff	Matthew Jamison III
Matt Shelly	Seabrook Boy
Michael D. Fuller	Seabrook Boy
Jonathan Parks Jordan	Seabrook Boy
Leslea Fisher	Seabrook Girl
Jude Kitchens	Tommy The Ferris Wheel Operator
Tim O'Brien	Mr. Tuffington,Mrs. Tuffington
Cullen Moss	Bodee
Traci Dinwiddie	Veronica
Pat Leonard	Actor,Lieutenant Davis
Kweli Leapart	Willa
James Middleton	Actor
Frederick Bingham	Postman
Daniel Czekalski	Recruitment Officer
Peter Rosenfeld	Professor
Bradley D. Capshaw	Injured Soldier
James Scott Deaton	Injured Soldier
Eve Kagan	Sarah Lawrence Girl
Stephanie Wheeler	Sarah Lawrence Girl
Erin Guzowski	Sarah Lawrence Girl
Obba Babatunde	Band Leader
Chuck Pacheco	Bus Driver
John A. Cundari	Maitre D'
Hugh Robertson	Actor,Pastor
Robert Washington	Actor
Todd Lewis	Reporter,Davanee
Mark Johnson	Actor
Robert Fraisse	Buyer #1
Barbara Weetman	Buyer #2
Dan Chamblin	Buyer #3
Sasha Azevedo	Wife Of Buyer #3
Jamie Brown	Actor
Rebecca Koon	Aunt Georgia
Sandra W. Van Natta	Aunt Jeanette
Deborah Hobart	Aunt Kitty
Lindy Newton	Heather Lynn
Sherrill Turner	Actor,Linda Jean
Sylvia Jefferies	Rosemary
Scott Ritenour	Lon's Employee
Milton Buras	Lon's Employee
Elizabeth Bond	Lon's Secretary
Matt Barry	Actor,Dr. Barnwell
Nancy De Mayo	Mary Allen
Meredith Zealy	Maggie
Madison Wayne Ellis	Noah, Jr.
Riley Novak	Edmond
Ronald Betts	Male Nurse
Jerry Hey	Conductor
Aaron Zigman	Composer

Technical Credits

Nick Cassavetes

Jeremy Leven

Jan Sardi

Nick Cassavetes	Director,Screenwriter
Jeremy Leven	Screenwriter
Jan Sardi	Screenwriter
Avram Butch Kaplan	Executive Producer
Toby Emmerich	Executive Producer
Lynn Harris	Producer
Mark Johnson	Producer,Stunts
Matthew Barry	Casting
David Dryer	Special Effects
Nancy Green-Keyes	Casting
Bob Shelley	Special Effects
Kelly Cabral	Sound Effects
Paul Timothy Carden	Sound Effects
Anthony Cargioli	Sound Effects,Sound Effects
Claudia Carle	Sound Effects
Mike Chute	Stunts
Benoît Gauthier	Stunts
Patrick Kerton	Stunts
Dennis Zoppe	Key Grip
Rex Riddick	Stunts
Gillis Jere	Stunts
Kenneth MacKenzie	Key Grip
Richard Futch	Casting
Jean Frenette	Stunts
Ted Larkin	Stunts
Catherine Sudolcan	Producer
Margaret Mullins	Casting
Robert Kurt Brubaker	Stunts
Jonathan Gaynor	Sound Mixer

Editorial Reviews

The only way The Notebook resembles anything on Nick Cassavetes's resumé is that it features his mother, Gena Rowlands. But this departure is a good thing. Too fixated early in his career on (poorly) imitating the gritty mannerisms of his father, iconoclast filmmaker John Cassavetes, the younger Cassavetes gives himself over here to a lyrical romance that takes place mostly in the 1940s. The clean production design of a period piece suits him well, and while it may not be grubby-fingernails real, The Notebook carries with it an undeniable believability. Nicholas Sparks's novel contains plenty of pat scenarios, but they possess a wonderful third dimension in the hands of the film's two exciting central performers: Rachel McAdams and Ryan Gosling. Both are effortlessly charming and likeable, giving fine personage to the young lovers who struggle against society's expectations of them. McAdams in particular is a revelation, proving as effective a flawed protagonist as she was an icy backstabber in Mean Girls -- though this is much subtler work. Adults who see The Notebook as a teen romance, despite its wartime setting, should be heartened by the Oscar nominees who fill out the cast, as Joan Allen and James Garner join Rowlands to add credibility. Although the framing story involving Garner and Rowlands sometimes seems like a distraction, it has a fulfilling enough resolution to work in concert with the main narrative. The constant between both time periods is Cassavetes's camera, which has the liberated feel of a child breaking free from his father's influence. John Cassavetes may not have shot many rowboats on swan-filled lakes, but his son seems to have matured to the realization that this, too, is a legitimate form of honest storytelling.