The Notebook

Allie: I remember now. It was us. "The Story of Our Lives" by Allison Hamilton Calhoun > To my love, Noah > Read this to me, and I'll come back to you I understand all the flowers for this movie now TT It's a really compelling love story. My favorite element about this movie was not the whirlwind romance of the younger characters, although their chemistry was remarkable, and their story too (it has to be, Noah's recollection of the past is the narrative device that moves the story forward), but the enduring love between Noah and Allie decades into the future. It proved that their relationship was more than an impetuous, passion-driven thing. It was true love. Noah staying by Allie's side, remaining present and caring and patient even though it must have been devastating to see his wife treat him like a stranger... Allie writing the notebook in the first place, with certainty that her and Noah's story is what would bring her back to herself... I found myself moved to tears, watching their dinner together, and its aftermath. I sobbed at the ending too, when they died together TT One last miracle, as a product of their love. They left the world aware of one another and still so, so in love TT Allie: Why didn't you write me? Why? It wasn't over for me, I waited for you for seven years. But now it's too late. > Noah: I wrote you 365 letters. I wrote you everyday for a year. > Allie: You wrote me? > Noah: Yes... it wasn't over, it still isn't over. I enjoyed the story of their early relationship as well! Ryan Gosling in brown contacts and Rachel McAdams were both so pretty and so good at acting besotted with one another. They played the role of young lovers beautifully. Some of Noah's antics in the beginning rubbed me the wrong way; their fights were raw and a bit toxic in a realistic way; and of course there was Allie's cheating on Lon (a genuinely good man, it seemed) and Noah's emotional absence with Martha TT BUT the couple's messiness is part of the charm, almost. They're two imperfect people figuring things out. And in the end, it was clear that what they had was true love, and they made the right choice by sticking together. Noah: So it's not gonna be easy. It's gonna be really hard. We're gonna have to work at this every day, but I want to do that because I want you. I want all of you, for ever, you and me, every day. He stayed true to his word 🥹 Their time together in the sunset of their lives was what really won me over. I didn't expect this movie to be so poignant. All I knew about it was the kiss in the rain. I'm glad I watched it after all this time. Great film.