The Notebook review

The notebook is a romantic drama based on the equally titled novel by Nicholas Sparks. Everyone agreed that it was a great movie when it was released back in 2004 but question is: is it still today?

Story
The notebook follows the lives of Noah Calhoun and Allie Hamilton. Noah is a poor man but with a strong heart. He works hard everyday but barely has a dime to spend. Allie on the other hand is born in a rich family and their parents are of the highest society ranks. But Ellie and Noah fall in love and everything seems perfect, that is until they meet the parents. Allie's folks want her to marry a rich man to continue the tradition and will try everything to get her away from Noah. I don't want to spoil anything so I'll stop here. bottom line is that the story is really good and keeps you guessing and hoping all the way through. But it's unfortunate that the characters around Allie and Noah don't seem to evolve at all and in the end I realized that I actually knew very little of Allie. What does she do for a living? What are her fears? A lot of questions remained unanswered and personally I found the story's focus a little too narrow at times. Showing solely the connection between the Notebook's main characters and leaving everything else and the characters unique personalities in the shadows.

Presentation
Like every good movie this one made the jump to blu-ray quite recently. Unfortunately that's not the version I tested, fortunately though the DVD version is top notch. Video quality is crisp, as is the audio. The amazing soundtrack of Aaron Zigman completes the pack. Simply put in terms of presentation I've no complaints at all. Of course it's not blu-ray quality but the DVD version is up there with the best.

Conclusion
The notebook is a great love story but just a decent story overall. Apart from Ellie and Noah's relationship nothing seems to evolve. Luckily their oh so magical relationship will keep you glued to your couch until the final credits scroll by. And because of that this movie does everything you expect it to do and a little more. It gives you an escape from reality and shows you how great love can be, although almost nobody will experience anything like it in real life.