RottenTomatoes.com
Log In | Register | What is RT?
Found a Bug? Squash It! Report Bugs Here
  • Home
  • Movies
  • DVD
  • Celebrities
  • News
  • Critics
  • Trailers & Pictures
  • CommunityBeta
  • Box Office
  • | Best Of
  • | Certified Fresh
  • | Showtimes
RT Search Powered by Google
help icon Enhanced RT
searches on Google
Click here to turn on enhanced search results from RT on your Google searches.
 
Movies / On DVD / The Notebook
The Notebook

Rate this Movie Help Icon

  • Write a Review
  • Read Reviews
  • Add to List
  • Buy Poster External Icon
  • Visit Official Site External Icon
Bookmark and Share

The Notebook (2004)

  • T-Meter Critics
  • Top Critics
  • RT Community
  • My Critics
  • My Friends
  • DVD
52 %
Tomatometer
Template ImageTemplate Image

How does the Tomatometer work Help Icon

Reviews Counted:146

Fresh:76

Rotten:70

Average Rating:5.6/10

Consensus: Despite some touching performances, The Notebook is still a syrupy tearjerker.

Rated: 12A [See Full Rating] for some sexuality

Runtime: 2 hrs 4 mins

Genre: Dramas

Theatrical Release:25-06-2004

Synopsis: A young woman comes to the coastal town of Seabrook, North Carolina in the 1940's to spend the summer with her family. Still in her teens, Allie Hamilton (Rachel McAdams) meets local boy Noah... A young woman comes to the coastal town of Seabrook, North Carolina in the 1940's to spend the summer with her family. Still in her teens, Allie Hamilton (Rachel McAdams) meets local boy Noah Calhoun (Ryan Gosling) at a Carnival. On the spot, Noah senses that he and Allie are meant to be together. Though she is a wealthy debutante and he a mill worker, over the course of one passionate and carefree summer in the South, the two fall deeply in love. Circumstances - and the sudden outbreak of World War II - drive them apart, but both continue to be haunted by memories of each other. When Noah returns home from the war years later, Allie is irrevocably gone from his life, but not from his heart. Though Noah doesn't yet know it, Allie has come back to Seabrook, where they first fell in love. But now Allie is engaged to marry Lon (James Marsden), a wealthy soldier she met while volunteering in a GI hospital. Decades later, a man (James Garner) reads from a faded notebook to a woman (Gena Rowlands) he regularly visits at her nursing home. Though her memory has faded, she becomes caught up in the fiery story of Allie and Noah - and for a few moments, she is able to relive the passionate, turbulent time when they swore they'd be together always. New Line Cinema presents The Notebook, a story of lost chances, growing up and the power of enduring love. A Gran Via Production, the film is directed by Nick Cassavetes from a screenplay by Jeremy Leven, adaptation by Jan Sardi, based on the best-selling novel by Nicholas Sparks. Academy Award winner Mark Johnson (Rain Man) and Lynn Harris are the producers. The executive producers are Toby Emmerich and Avram Butch Kaplan. The film stars Ryan Gosling (The Believer), Rachel McAdams (Mean Girls), Academy Award nominees James Garner (Murphy's Romance, TV's "Eight Simple Rules") and Gena Rowlands (Gloria, A Woman Under the Influence), James Marsden (X-Men series) and Kevin Connolly (John Q.), with Academy Award nominees Sam Shepard (The Right Stuff, Black Hawk Down) and Joan Allen (The Contender, Nixon). The creative behind-the-scenes team is led by director of photography Robert Fraisse AFC (Enemy at the Gates, Vatel), editor Alan Heim A.C.E. (American History X, All That Jazz), production designer Sarah Knowles and costume designer Karyn Wagner (The Lone Ranger, The Salton Sea, The Majestic). Aaron Zigman (John Q., Fighting For Care) composed the score. Casting is by Matthew Barry, C.S.A. and Nancy Green-Keyes, C.S.A. New Line Cinema will release The Notebook (rated PG-13 by the M.P.A.A. for "some sexuality") nationwide on June 25th, 2004. [More]

Starring: Ryan Gosling, Rachel McAdams, James Garner, Gena Rowlands

Starring: Ryan Gosling, Rachel McAdams, James Garner, Gena Rowlands, Sam Shepard, Joan Allen, James Marsden

Director: Nick Cassavetes

Director: Nick Cassavetes
Screenwriter: Jeremy Leven, Jan Sardi
Producer: Mark Johnson, Lynn Harris
Composer: Aaron Zigman
Studio: New Line Cinema

[See More Credits]

  • Trailers
  • Pictures
  • The Notebook Trailer
    >
1 of 1

See More Movie Trailers & Pictures

Reviews for The Notebook

  • T-Meter Critics
  • Top Critics
  • RT Community
  • My Critics
  • My Friends
  • DVD
 
 
141 - 153 (sorted by date; UK critics are listed first)
Text View | |< << 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8
Arrange By:Fresh | Rotten | Comments | Name | Source | Date
 
 

A sweetly sappy, sentimental story exploring haunting, enduring memories of a summer romance that lasts a lifetime.

Full Review Source: www.susangranger.com | comment Comment
06/22/04
Susan Granger
Susan Granger
www.susangranger.com

It certainly isn’t cool to embrace The Notebook, but in secret maybe I’ll just tip toe into the living room and kiss my wife. Don’t tell the guys.

Full Review Source: CinemaBlend.com | comment Comment
06/21/04
Joshua Tyler
Joshua Tyler
CinemaBlend.com

The film does absolutely nothing new, brave or surprising, but it treads its familiar ground with a comfortable, well-practiced gait.

Full Review Source: Film Blather | comment Comment
06/21/04
Eugene Novikov
Eugene Novikov
Film Blather

Despite the pleasant surprise that it isn’t completely rancid, The Notebook proves ultimately and unfortunately completely forgettable.

Full Review Source: Apollo Guide | comment Comment
06/21/04
Dan Jardine
Dan Jardine
Apollo Guide

The main reason I'm recommending this ... is Rachel McAdams.

Full Review Source: Ebert & Roeper | comment Comment
06/21/04
Richard Roeper
Richard Roeper
Ebert & Roeper

I really enjoyed this film on its sappy, lovey-dovey level and I'm not afraid to admit it...

Full Review Source: JoBlo's Movie Emporium | comment Comment
06/21/04
JoBlo
JoBlo
JoBlo's Movie Emporium

There's no way to endure the movie without earplugs and a blindfold.

Full Review Source: Rolling Stone | comment Comment
06/17/04
Peter Travers
Peter Travers
Rolling Stone

[Gosling and McAdams] are, however and alas, only half the love story; they're the photogenic flashback.

Full Review Source: Entertainment Weekly | comment 1 Comment
06/17/04
Lisa Schwarzbaum
Lisa Schwarzbaum
Entertainment Weekly

Though The Notebook may be trite in narrative, the feelings it conjures are surprisingly--and effectively--real.

Full Review Source: Mixed Reviews | comment Comment
06/15/04
Jeffrey Huston
Jeffrey Huston
Mixed Reviews

It's a good thing 'The Notebook' has an appealing narrator to soften some of its jarring elements.

Full Review Source: ReelTalk Movie Reviews | comment Comment
06/15/04
Betty Jo Tucker
Betty Jo Tucker
ReelTalk Movie Reviews

There's a generic feel to the saga and, especially, the character of Allie.

Full Review Source: Boxoffice Magazine | comment Comment
06/06/04
Sheri Linden
Sheri Linden
Boxoffice Magazine

A determined and often affecting romance that doesn't speak down to audiences.

Full Review Source: Variety | comment Comment
05/24/04
Robert Koehler
Robert Koehler
Variety
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

Mercilessly plodding pacing, problematic character motivations and a fundamental lack of chemistry between the two star-crossed lovers.

Full Review Source: Hollywood Reporter | comment Comment
05/22/04
Michael Rechtshaffen
Michael Rechtshaffen
Hollywood Reporter
Top Critic Icon Top Critic
 
 
141 - 153 (sorted by date; UK critics are listed first)
Text View | |< << 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8
all

Latest News for The Notebook

January 23, 2008: Ryan Gosling Starring in Jack Ryan Franchise Reboot?
Romantics swooned over him in The Notebook, and critics loved his turn as the doll-toting lead character in last year's Lars and the Real Girl -- and if the latest rumors are... More...

January 02, 2008: First Shots of Eric Bana and Rachel McAdams in The Time Traveler's Wife
The first stills from Robert Schwentke's adaptation of The Time Traveler's Wife have surfaced online! More...

October 25, 2007: Dakota Fanning and Elle Fanning Teaming Up for My Sister's Keeper
They aren't even in high school yet, but the Fanning sisters are already grizzled Hollywood veterans -- and now they're teaming up onscreen for the first time. More...

June 28, 2007: Ryan Gosling Signs On to Peter Jackson's "Lovely Bones"
The 27-year-old actor will be playing the husband to 36-year-old Rachel Weisz. They'll be playing the parents of a (dead) 14-year-old girl in the Peter Jackson pic. More...

See All

More DVDs

Top Rentals
Tomatometer Percentage Movie
14% 14% The Ugly Truth
98% 98% Up
36% 36% G.I. Joe: The Rise of …
52% 52% The Taking of Pelham 1…
45% 45% Ice Age: Dawn of the D…

More Rentals…

New On DVD This Week
Tomatometer Percentage Movie
36% 36% Angels & Demons
68% 68% Funny People
25% 25% Four Christmases
45% 45% Shorts

More New Releases…

What’s Hot On RT

Twilight Saga: Eclipse

Twilight Saga: Eclipse

5 facts straight from the cast.

Disney Animation

Disney Animation

We chart the studio's classics.

Avatar

Avatar

An exclusive look at the human hardware.

Eric Bana

Eric Bana

The Star Trek star talks cars with RT.

Other News

  • Top Stories
  • Popular
  • Interviews
 
 

Comments

 
 
Top Stories
Headlines Comments
  
  • Weekly Ketchup: Zombieland 2 in 3D?
24
  • First Look (Sort Of) at New Nightmare's Freddy Source: ShockTillYouDrop.com
24
  • First Look at Shrek Forever After Source: USA Today
48
  • Woody Harrelson Will Battle Zombies in 3-D Source: Moviehole
26
  • Natalie Portman Says Kat Denning Is in Thor Source: MTV
34
  • Disney Restructuring Has Broad Implications Source: Los Angeles Times
10
  • Joel Silver Talks Ninja Assassin, Sgt. Rock, Lobo, and More Source: Collider.com
1
  • Weekly Ketchup: Idris Elba cast in Thor, more Spider-Man 4 rumors
126
  • Idris Elba Joins Thor Source: Hollywood Reporter
112
  • Jackass 3D Coming in 2010? Source: Collider.com
32
Popular
Headlines Comments
  
  • Box Office Guru Wrapup: New Moon Shatters Records
181
  • Total Recall: John Travolta's Best Movies
92
  • Ban Them All! 10 Infamously Controversial Movies
71
  • 5 Facts About The Twilight Saga: Eclipse
65
  • Weekly Ketchup: Idris Elba cast in Thor, more Spider-Man 4 rumors
63
  • Friday Harvest: The Road, Avatar, and more!
45
  • Critics Consensus: Flee From Ninja Assassin
44
  • Five Favorite Films With Zombieland Director Ruben Fleischer
22
  • "I Don't Hate Women": Lars von Trier on Antichrist
16
  • Weekly Ketchup: Zombieland 2 in 3D?
8
Interviews
Headlines Comments
  
  • "I Don't Hate Women": Lars von Trier on Antichrist
16
  • Eric Bana talks Love the Beast - RT Interview
11
  • Fight Club Sound Designer Reflects on Film's 10th Anniversary
21
  • James Schamus talks Taking Woodstock - RT Interview
8
  • John Hurt Talks Harry Potter, Quentin Crisp and Alien - The RT Interview
15
  • Terry Gilliam Talks Doctor Parnassus
21
  • Wes Anderson Talks Fantastic Mr. Fox - RT Interview
8
  • Wolverine Creator Len Wein Talks About the Film
28
  • Gavin Hood Talks Wolverine; Possible Sequel
28
  • Duncan Jones talks Moon, Sam Rockwell, and Mute
14
 
 

Sponsored Links

Around The Network

  • The Notebook at Rotten Tomatoes
  • The Notebook at IGN
  • The Notebook at AskMen

Fresh Links

Featured
RT on YouTube
RT on YouTube External Link

Subscribe to RT's YouTube channel and don't miss a second of our cracking video content.

RT on Twitter
RT on Twitter External Link

Follow Rotten Tomatoes and join us as we tweet about the week's releases.

 
 
About| Site Map| Help| RT To Go| Contact Us| Critics Submission| Linking to RT| Licensing| Movie List| Celebs List| Newsletter
IGN Logo

IGN.com | GameSpy | Comrade | Arena | FilePlanet | GameSpy Technology
TeamXbox | Planets | Vaults | VE3D | CheatsCodesGuides | GameStats | GamerMetrics
AskMen.com | Rotten Tomatoes | Direct2Drive | Green Pixels


By continuing past this page, and by the continued use of this site, you agree to be bound by and abide by the User Agreement.
Copyright 1998-2009, IGN Entertainment, Inc. About IGN | Support | Advertise | Privacy Policy | User Agreement | Subscribe to RT's XML feed! IGN RSS Feeds
IGN's enterprise databases running Oracle, SQL and MySQL are professionally monitored and managed by Pythian Remote DBA
Certain product data ©1995-present Muze, Inc. For personal use only. All rights reserved.