Reviewed by Johnny McNair

Warner Home Entertainment– 124 minutes – 2004 – Rated PG-13 – 1080p – 2.40:1 – DTS HD 5.1 Lossless Audio

Author Nicholas Sparks has a loyal following of readers who find his novels refreshing, because instead of the bad things in life, his stories focus on the good side of humanity and finding love. Several of his books have already been made into movies, such as Nights in Rodanthe, A Walk to Remember, and Message in a Bottle. His novel The Notebook was given the Hollywood treatment in 2004, and is now a Blu-ray Limited Edition Giftset from Warner Home Video. This may not be one for the guys, but sometimes you have to get in touch with your gentler side.

THE MOVIE

The Notebook is a very simple story centering around a man named Duke, played by veteran actor James Garner, who lives in a nursing home. In a fairy tale manner he begins to read a story to another patient in the home, Allie, played by Gena Rowlands.

The story he reads begins in the 40’s, focusing on a young Country boy named Noah (Ryan Gosling), who falls in love with a girl from a wealthy family named Allie (Rachel McAdams). Their love affair begins, but many obstacles fall into place, one being her family doesn’t approve of her being with this farm boy; and there’s also another guy trying to win her hand, an heir to a rich family named Lon (James Mardsen). Noah and Allie engage in a rollercoaster romance throughout the 40’s to present, where we discover that she is the woman in the story and Duke is Noah, but Allie doesn’t remember him because she suffers from advanced Alzheimers. Duke is reading a series of letters that he wrote to Allie many years ago, and when she learned about her illness, she made him promise to continuously read the story of the love to her so that if only for a short time, she will remember.

Directed by Nick Cassavetes, who is better known as an actor for playing a bad guy or directing violent films like Alpha Dog, The Notebook is a very different style. Yes, it’s a chick flick, but not the vomit-fest that stars Matthew McConaughey or Sandra Bullock; instead it showcases excellent performances and a story that will even make the toughest guy in the room shed a tear. Supporting cast members such as Sam Shepard, Joan Allen and Kevin Connolly also round out the excellent cast, which is a mixture of old stars and newcomers.

The film is not perfect, being slow in certain places, but it’s easy to see how this could have turned out to be a sappy Lifetime Channel movie if it weren’t for the dedication of the actors and director to the original source material. Again, this may not be one for the guys who would rather be watching their Steven Segal Above The Law Blu-ray, but a good movie is a good movie even if it doesn’t have explosions are catch-phrase lines. If you want to show that special lady in your life that you’re a sweet guy with a tender side, the slide The Notebook into your Blu-ray player and put your arms around her. It will be worth the two hour investment, and you can always watch that Steven Segal movie later.

VIDEO

Presented in full 1080p in a 2.40:1 aspect ratio, The Notebook image quality is good, but there are inconsistencies with the picture quality. Some scenes look picture perfect with sharp details, but other scenes display blurred backgrounds that do not look natural, and colors that are slightly muted. It seems as if when this film was being transferred attempts were made to enhance it, but it effects other portions of the image. Overall, the image quality is a huge leap above what you would get from the standard DVD, but if more precise care were taken, this could have been an amazing visual winner.

AUDIO

The Notebook offers a Dolby TrueHD 5.1 that is well balanced and highlights this dialogue driven drama. James Garner’s signature voice has never sounded better, and the natural background elements are highlighted well without being over exaggerated. The sound mix, like the film itself is calm and satisfying.

EXTRAS

Normally, big over-priced movie box sets have an appeal to them such as the one for Terminator with the full-sized endo-skeleton head, but this gift set for The Notebook seems to be an unnecessary overkill. It comes in a giant box that will instantly take up most of your space on a shelf, and there really isn’t anything included that would get you excited. There’s not even a digital copy included…so what exactly was the point?

There are two audio commentaries available, one by director Nick Cassavetes and a second by the book’s author Nicholas Sparks. Both of these men are passionate about the material, but Cassavete’s commentary has more meat, and he talks about on the set difficulties, and issues like directed his mom, actress Gena Rowlands.

‘All in the Family: Nick Cassavetes’ is a fifteen-minute promo piece about the actor and director that includes interviews with the cast of The Notebook.

Nicholas Sparks: A Simple Story Well Told is a quick five-minute piece on the author and his work.

Casting Ryan & Rachel takes a look at the casting of the film’s two young leads, Gosling and McAdams. And you can also watch Rachel McAdam’s screen test.

‘Southern Exposure: Locating The Notebook’ is a ten-minute featurette about the shooting locations used to give the film an authetic feel.

There are 12 deleted scenes that clock in at around thirty-minutes. Some are worth a look, but most are rather slow and you can see why they were removed.

This big box also includes a 46 page photo album that can also be used a scrapbook, similar to the one in the film. You are also encouraged to write your own romantic notes on the included blank cards. There are also nice little envelopes and cute stickers, like the ones you give the girl or boy that you like in your second grade class. Basically, unless you are a die-hard fan of this movie, most of this stuff is completely useless, and you’re better off with just the film itself.

BOTTOM LINE

The Notebook is a good film, packaged in an unnecessary gift set that may look good opening on a Holiday or birthday, but other than that, hopefully just a standard Blu-ray will be released to avoid taking up your shelf space. It is refreshing to see a film like this still has a place in the world where transforming robots rule, so if you haven’t seen it before, The Notebook is worth shedding a tear for, even if you don’t want any of your football friends to know.

SCORES: (out of 5):

The Movie: 3.5

Video: 3.5

Sound: 4.0

Extras: 3.0

Bottom Line: 3.5