The Notebook

The Notebook is a 2004 American romantic drama film directed by Nick Cassavetes, from a screenplay by Jeremy Leven and Jan Sardi, and based on the 1996 novel of the same name by Nicholas Sparks. The film stars Ryan Gosling and Rachel McAdams as a young couple who fall in love in the 1940s. Their story is read from a notebook in the present day by an elderly man, telling the tale to a fellow nursing home resident.

The Notebook had its world premiere at the Seattle International Film Festival on May 20, 2004, and was theatrically released in the United States on June 25, 2004. Despite generally mixed reviews from critics, Gosling and McAdams were singled out for praise for their performances. The film was a sleeper hit at the box office, grossing $117 million against its $29 million budget, and has become a cult classic in the years since its release. On November 11, 2012, an extended version premiered on ABC Family with deleted scenes added back into the original storyline.

The film earned several accolades, including the MTV Movie Award for Best Kiss for Gosling and McAdams at the 2005 MTV Movie Awards. At the 11th Screen Actors Guild Awards, James Garner was nominated for Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Supporting Role and Gena Rowlands won Best Supporting Actress – Drama at the 9th Golden Satellite Awards.

At a modern-day nursing home, the elderly Duke reads a romantic story from a notebook to a female patient:

In 1940, at a carnival in Seabrook Island, South Carolina, lumber mill worker Noah Calhoun sees 17-year-old heiress Allison "Allie" Hamilton, there for the summer. He pursues her, coerces her into dating him, and they begin a romance.

When Allie and Noah return to her parents' mansion, Allie's mother Anne makes it clear they are against the relationship and forbid her from seeing him. Noah leaves and Allie follows, they go back and forth about Allie staying or Noah moving to New York. However, Noah suggests they wait out the summer and see if they will work out. Allie assumes Noah wants to break it off and they begin to argue, and Allie says she wants to break it off, but then instantly regrets it the moment Noah drives away.

The next morning, Anne announces they will be returning to Charleston immediately. Allie seeks Noah to apologize but is unsuccessful, so she asks Fin to tell him she loves him. Noah rushes to Allie's when he hears but is too late.

Noah writes Allie every day for a year, but Allie's mother intercepts the letters. When all 365 go unanswered, he stops writing to move on. He and Fin enlist and fight in the Battle of the Bulge where Fin is killed. Allie nurses wounded soldiers in a hospital, meeting Captain Lon Hammond Jr., a young lawyer who comes from old Southern money. After a few years, they become engaged, to Allie's parents' delight.

Noah returns from the war and finds his father has sold their home so Noah can buy The Windsor Plantation. He believes that if he restores it, Allie will return to him. Once it's completed, Noah resists selling it. As Allie tries on her wedding dress, she sees a newspaper photo of Noah in front of the renovated house and faints.

Allie's feelings for Noah come rushing back, so she asks Lon to take a solo trip before the wedding. Returning to Seabrook, she finds Noah living in their dream house. They rekindle and consummate their relationship. Noah tells Allie about the 365 letters and they realize her mother kept them from her.

Days later, Anne appears to warn Allie that Lon has come to Seabrook. She also reveals that she once loved a lower-class young man in town and still wonders how changed their lives would have been if she had chosen differently. She gives Allie Noah's letters, suggesting she choose wisely.

Noah and Allie argue and he tells her to decide what she wants, not what everyone else does. She drives back to her hotel, sobbing and confused, and confesses her infidelity to Lon. He still wants her back, but she follows her heart and returns to Noah.

In the present, the elderly woman is revealed to be Allie, now suffering from dementia. Duke is actually Noah, who uses a pseudonym to not startle her in her disoriented state. The journal he reads to her she wrote during the early stages of her illness, detailing their romance and life together so he could help her come back to him. Noah has kept the promise to read it to her almost daily.

Almost at the end of the journal in the notebook, Allie asks Noah what happened at the end of the story and Noah prompts her that she knows. She briefly recognizes him and remembers. Allie asks how long they have before she forgets again and Duke tells her possibly five minutes. They dance to their song, "I'll Be Seeing You", and she asks about their kids.

However, Allie's dementia quickly relapses and she panics to see a stranger touching her, so is sedated. Duke has a heart attack and is treated in the nursing home while Allie is taken to the dementia ward. Upon recovering and despite not being permitted, Noah sneaks into Allie's room in the night. She instantly recognizes him, they kiss, and die together, holding hands.

The film rights to Nicholas Sparks' novel were acquired by New Line Cinema in 1996, represented by producer Mark Johnson. Jeremy Leven was hired to write the script, which caught the attention of director Steven Spielberg in 1998, who wished to film it with Tom Cruise as Noah Calhoun. Spielberg's commitment to other projects led to Jim Sheridan becoming attached to direct the following year. Filming was to start in 1999 but pushed back over rewrites. Sheridan eventually backed out by October 2000 to work on In America. Martin Campbell entered negotiations to direct in March 2001, before he was replaced by Nick Cassavetes a year later. Early in development George Clooney was going to play Noah, and Paul Newman the older Noah, but after Clooney watched some Paul Newman movies he went up to Newman and said he did not look like him.

Cassavetes wanted someone unknown and "not handsome" to portray Noah; he chose Ryan Gosling for the role. Hayden Christensen was originally considered for the role. Gosling was initially surprised by this: "I read [the script] and I thought, 'He's crazy. I couldn't be more wrong for this movie.'" "It gave me an opportunity to play a character over a period of time – from 1940 to 1946 – that was quite profound and formative." To prepare for the part, Gosling temporarily moved to Charleston, South Carolina, prior to filming. During two months, he rowed the Ashley River and made furniture. When James Garner was approached for the role of the older Noah, he asked his agent if the script was for a television film, until he read it again and realized it had a universal appeal. A nationwide search was conducted to find the right actress to play Allie. Actresses who auditioned or considered for the role included Jessica Biel, Britney Spears, Jaime King, Jane McGregor, Jennifer Lawrence, Kate Beckinsale, Kate Bosworth, Amy Adams, Mandy Moore, Scarlett Johansson, Claire Danes, Jennifer Love Hewitt, Ashley Judd, and Reese Witherspoon, with the choice narrowed down to Britney Spears and Rachel McAdams with McAdams winning the role. On casting her, Cassavetes said: "When Rachel McAdams came in and read, it was apparent that she was the one. She and Ryan had great chemistry between them." She commented: "I thought it would be a dream to be able to do it. I read the script and went into the audition just two days later. It was a good way to do it because I was very full of the story." Gosling commented that, "I think that it's pretty fair to say that we probably wouldn't have made the film if we hadn't found Rachel... Really, Allie drives the movie. It's her movie and we're in it. It all kind of depended on an actress." In comparison to the book, the role was extended. McAdams spent time in Charleston before filming to familiarize herself with the surroundings, and took ballet and etiquette classes. She had a dialect coach to learn the Southern accent. Bradley Cooper was considered for Lon Hammond, while the studio pushed for Cole Hauser; but James Mardsen was eventually cast.

The Notebook was filmed mostly on location in South Carolina, as well as the wintery battlefield just outside Montreal. Production offices for the film were set up at the old Charleston Naval Shipyard in North Charleston.

Much of the film's plot takes place in and around Seabrook Island, an actual town which is one of the South Carolina "sea island" localities, located 20 miles (32 km) southwest of Charleston. None of the filming took place in the Seabrook area, however, and instead utilized the surrounding areas. Specifically, the house that Noah is seen fixing up is a private residence at Wadmalaw Island, another locality situated 10 miles (16 km) closer to Charleston. The house was not actually in a dilapidated state at the time and instead was made to look that way by special effects. Contrary to the suggestion in the film's dialogue, neither the house nor the Seabrook area was home to South Carolina Revolutionary hero Francis Marion, whose plantation was actually located northwest of Charleston. The Boone Hall Plantation served as Allie's summer house.

Many of the scenes set in Seabrook were filmed in the town of Mt. Pleasant, (a suburb of Charleston). Other locations included: Edisto Island, Cypress Gardens (in Moncks Corner, South Carolina) with trained birds that were brought in from elsewhere.

The nursing home scenes were filmed at Rice Hope Plantation, located in Georgetown County. The college depicted briefly in the film is identified in the film as Sarah Lawrence College, but the campus that is seen is the College of Charleston.

The soundtrack to The Notebook was released on June 8, 2004.

The film was released on June 25, 2004, in the United States and Canada and grossed $13.5 million from 2,303 theaters in its opening weekend, ranking number 4 at the box office. The film grossed a total of $115.6 million worldwide, $81 million in Canada and the United States and $34.6 million in other countries. It is the 15th highest-grossing romantic drama film of all time.