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So ... Mom got the urge she wanted to see the movie The Notebook. We got it from Netflix and watched it tonight.
The present-day story is very powerful, poignant, beautiful, and heartbreaking. I really felt for the couple and could see that their love was strong and true.
But ...
The past story just doesn't measure up. I don't get the vibe that the couple is deeply in love in the past. What I get from the past story is that they're overly obsessed with wanting to climb into each other's pants. Now I know sexual desires are part of a romantic relationship, but if you're not careful in how the story is written, it's going to come out looking like it's lust instead of love. This did not feel like love.
The story in the past as it is is badly cliched and doesn't seem well-written. A standard "two kids from different stations in life are supposedly in love and the parents don't approve" sort of thing. If written well, it can work. But this is just one bad cliche after another. And when it seemed like the only stuff we ever saw was either them arguing or them trying to eat each other up or make out, eh, I just couldn't get behind the relationship. It didn't feel special or real or beautiful at all.
Sometimes it's funny when a couple argues a lot, but it only works if you can tell they love each other deep down. I didn't get that vibe from Noah and Allie. I got the vibe that they did not click together and did not respect each other. At least, I certainly didn't feel he respected her.
Okay, I did like that he remembered everything she wanted done with the house. That was sweet. And I liked the letter bit. Honestly, that kind of sweetness fit the guy in the present. Everything else about Noah in the past ... really did not fit the guy in the present.
Honestly, the second guy Allie meets up with is a much better guy. Noah always came across like a jerk and I never liked him from the get-go once we got into the past. Lon was nice and respectful, save for the first time she met him when he was wounded and he seemed to kind of make a pass at her. Since he was nice every other time, I'd probably say being wounded made him act out a bit. Noah can't have any such excuse.
In the end, I can't help it, I'd rather believe that the guy who loves her so deeply in the present is Lon and that she had him instead of Noah. The guy's personality in the present is much closer to Lon's, and it occurred to me too that when you see the pictures of them through the years, James Garner in the younger pictures of him looks much more like an older Lon than Noah. Part of me wonders if originally it was supposed to be Lon because Noah just doesn't seem to make sense, personality-wise.
In the end, though, heh, Allie wasn't very nice to Lon, running off to see Noah and ending up jumping in bed with him when she was engaged to Lon. Lon deserved better and Noah and Allie probably deserved each other. And I don't mean they deserved each other in a positive way.
I don't know; the past story is just a mess. The present-day story is so beautiful and bittersweet and heartbreaking and I wish the past story really fit it better. From the present-day story, I expected to get a beautiful romance in the past, and honestly, I didn't. I got a lustful disaster.
I don't like to completely bash the story itself, because I read that the book's author was inspired to write the story because of meeting his wife's grandparents, who had been married for 60 years. He wanted to capture the beauty of a relationship that had lasted that long. Maybe the book actually does. I would hope so. The movie just doesn't cut it. And I honestly can't say I'm glad I finally saw it after hearing so much hype about it through the years. The only content I really liked was the present-day story, as well as Lon in the past.
At least I got a little more sewing done while we were watching. I'll have Barney's coat done soon, I hope.
And I did decide to write the funny story next. I think it's almost done. I'm pretty happy with it.
The present-day story is very powerful, poignant, beautiful, and heartbreaking. I really felt for the couple and could see that their love was strong and true.
But ...
The past story just doesn't measure up. I don't get the vibe that the couple is deeply in love in the past. What I get from the past story is that they're overly obsessed with wanting to climb into each other's pants. Now I know sexual desires are part of a romantic relationship, but if you're not careful in how the story is written, it's going to come out looking like it's lust instead of love. This did not feel like love.
The story in the past as it is is badly cliched and doesn't seem well-written. A standard "two kids from different stations in life are supposedly in love and the parents don't approve" sort of thing. If written well, it can work. But this is just one bad cliche after another. And when it seemed like the only stuff we ever saw was either them arguing or them trying to eat each other up or make out, eh, I just couldn't get behind the relationship. It didn't feel special or real or beautiful at all.
Sometimes it's funny when a couple argues a lot, but it only works if you can tell they love each other deep down. I didn't get that vibe from Noah and Allie. I got the vibe that they did not click together and did not respect each other. At least, I certainly didn't feel he respected her.
Okay, I did like that he remembered everything she wanted done with the house. That was sweet. And I liked the letter bit. Honestly, that kind of sweetness fit the guy in the present. Everything else about Noah in the past ... really did not fit the guy in the present.
Honestly, the second guy Allie meets up with is a much better guy. Noah always came across like a jerk and I never liked him from the get-go once we got into the past. Lon was nice and respectful, save for the first time she met him when he was wounded and he seemed to kind of make a pass at her. Since he was nice every other time, I'd probably say being wounded made him act out a bit. Noah can't have any such excuse.
In the end, I can't help it, I'd rather believe that the guy who loves her so deeply in the present is Lon and that she had him instead of Noah. The guy's personality in the present is much closer to Lon's, and it occurred to me too that when you see the pictures of them through the years, James Garner in the younger pictures of him looks much more like an older Lon than Noah. Part of me wonders if originally it was supposed to be Lon because Noah just doesn't seem to make sense, personality-wise.
In the end, though, heh, Allie wasn't very nice to Lon, running off to see Noah and ending up jumping in bed with him when she was engaged to Lon. Lon deserved better and Noah and Allie probably deserved each other. And I don't mean they deserved each other in a positive way.
I don't know; the past story is just a mess. The present-day story is so beautiful and bittersweet and heartbreaking and I wish the past story really fit it better. From the present-day story, I expected to get a beautiful romance in the past, and honestly, I didn't. I got a lustful disaster.
I don't like to completely bash the story itself, because I read that the book's author was inspired to write the story because of meeting his wife's grandparents, who had been married for 60 years. He wanted to capture the beauty of a relationship that had lasted that long. Maybe the book actually does. I would hope so. The movie just doesn't cut it. And I honestly can't say I'm glad I finally saw it after hearing so much hype about it through the years. The only content I really liked was the present-day story, as well as Lon in the past.
At least I got a little more sewing done while we were watching. I'll have Barney's coat done soon, I hope.
And I did decide to write the funny story next. I think it's almost done. I'm pretty happy with it.
