The Notebook

About

The Notebook is an American romantic drama film about a decades long romance between Allie, a young girl from a wealthy family, and working class Noah. The film is based on a novel by romance novelist Nicholas Sparks.

History

The Notebook was released on June 25th, 2004. The film stars James Garner as Noah Calhoun, the male protagonist in his later years and Ryan Gosling as Noah as a young man. It also stars Gena Rowlands as an elderly Allie Hamilton, and Rachel McAdams as the younger love interest.

Premise

In the present day an elderly man (James Garner) reads a love story to an elderly woman (Gena Rowlands) a love story about two teenagers who fall in love in the early '40s. The movie flashes back to the world of the story, where wealthy Allie Hamilton (Rachel McAdams) shares a summer romance with Noah Calhoun (Ryan Gosling). Allie's family disapproves of the relationship, and they leave Noah's town where they had been summering before Allie can say good-bye. Noah writes Allie a letter a day for a year, even as he fights in World War II, but never gets a response. Working as a nurse, Allie falls in love with a WWII solider, Lon Hammond (James Marsden), who eventually proposes. While she's preparing for her marriage, she notices a picture in a newspaper of Noah in front of the house they had nearly lost their virginity in, which he now owns and has fixed up. She goes to see him, and while there they sleep together, and Allie reveals she never got any of his letters. The next day her mother comes by the house, explaining she hid the letters and revealed she once loved a poor boy that her family disapproved of, but ultimately chose Allie's father. In the end Allie decides to call off the wedding and return to Noah. But in the present day, the older Allie realizes the story is theirs, and she and Noah share a dance while enjoying her lucid moments, however she soon lapses into dementia and becomes violent and agitated. Some days later Noah gets into bed with Allie, who is lucid and again, and asks what he thinks their love is capable of. The next morning a nurse finds they both passed away in their sleep.

Reception

Upon its release, The Notebook was a commercial, but not critical success. During its theatrical run the film grossed more than $115 million^[2] worldwide. The film also gained negative reviews, earning a rating of 52% on Rotten Tomatoes^[3] and a score of 53 on Metacritic.^[4]

Accolades

The film was nominated for two MTV Movie Awards in 2005, winning for Best Kiss. It was also nominated for nine Teen Choice Awards, winning eight of them including Choice Date Movie and Choice Movie Love Scene.

Online Presence

As of July 2014, The Notebook's official Facebook account^[5] has gained over 16 million likes. Fans can also download the film for $2.99 through the Warner Brother's YouTube channel.^[6]

Fandom

In addition to its branded online presence, The Notebook has several fan run sits including noah-n-allie4evr^[1]5 and the film's FanPop^[16] page. Tumblr blogs dedicated to the film include allthingsthenotebook^[12], fuckyeahthenotebook^[13] and thenotebook-nicksparks.^[14] As of July 2014, Deviant Art ^[7] has over 7.2 million pieces of fan art tagged The Notebook.

Related Memes

Viral Videos

On March 30th, 2009, YouTuber CollegeHumor ^[10] uploaded a Notebook parody (below, left) titled "The Handjob." As of July 2014, the video has gained over 4.5 million views. On February 12th, 2013, YouTuber ScreenJunkies^[8] uploaded an Honest Trailer (below, right) for The Notebook. As of July 2014, the video has gained over 3.7 million views.

On February 4th, 2014, YouTube ThePetCollective^[11] uploaded a video (below, left) titled "The Notebook – Cat Parody." As of July 2014, the video has gained over 130,000 views. On February 11th, 2014, YouTuber CinemaSins^[9] uploaded a video (below, right) titled "Everything Wrong With The Notebook In 10 Minutes Or Less." As of July 2014, the video has gained over 1.7 million views.

Notable Examples

Search Interest

External References