The Notebook

"Behind every great love is a great story."

2004 2h 3m EN

🙌

7.9

BANGER

🥫

55%

ROTTEN

😬

METACRITIC

⭐

7.8

IMDB

★7.9TMDB · 12,931🥫55%Rotten Tomatoes●53Metacritic★7.8IMDB · 686,952

RomanceDrama

Synopsis

Spoiler shield

An epic love story centered around an older man who reads aloud to a woman with Alzheimer's. From a faded notebook, the old man's words bring to life the story about a couple who is separated by World War II, and is then passionately reunited, seven years later, after they have taken different paths.

“Behind every great love is a great story.”

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Cast

Ryan Gosling
Noah Calhoun
Rachel McAdams
Allie Hamilton
Gena Rowlands
Older Allie
James Garner
Older Noah 'Duke'
Joan Allen
Anne Hamilton
David Thornton
John Hamilton
James Marsden
Lon Hammond
Kevin Connolly
Fin

Credits

Behind the camera

Director: Nick Cassavetes
Writers: Jeremy Leven, Jan Sardi
Languages: English
Countries: United States of America

Want more? Switch to Cinephile mode in the header for DP, composer, budget, box office, production companies, keywords, and release history.

Did you know?

Fun facts 🍿

1 / 8

MONEY

Did you know

Made its money back 4.0× over at the box office.

MoodPlayr · trivia#01

2 / 8

ERA

Did you know

Released 22 years ago.

MoodPlayr · trivia#02

3 / 8

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Directed by Nick Cassavetes, shot by Robert Fraisse. Note their partnership — DPs and directors often return to each other across a career.

MoodPlayr · trivia#03

4 / 8

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Original score by Aaron Zigman. Worth a dedicated listen after — most great films lose half their impact without the score.

MoodPlayr · trivia#04

5 / 8

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Editor Alan Heim shaped the rhythm. On an edit-heavy film, the editor does more to control your pulse than the director.

MoodPlayr · trivia#05

6 / 8

CAST

Did you know

Ryan Gosling and Rachel McAdams and Gena Rowlands carry the top of the cast.

MoodPlayr · trivia#06

7 / 8

FACT

Did you know

Marketing tagline: "Behind every great love is a great story.".

MoodPlayr · trivia#07

8 / 8

WILD

Did you know

IMDB entry: tt0332280 — still the authoritative cross-reference for credits and trivia.

MoodPlayr · trivia#08

Cinephile deep dive

The take

Nick Cassavetes directs. Robert Fraisse behind the camera. Aaron Zigman scores. Alan Heim cuts. Made its budget back several times over at the box office. Produced in United States of America. Dialogue in English.

Trivia

Things worth knowing

1Made its money back 4.0× over at the box office.
2Released 22 years ago.
3Directed by Nick Cassavetes, shot by Robert Fraisse. Note their partnership — DPs and directors often return to each other across a career.
4Original score by Aaron Zigman. Worth a dedicated listen after — most great films lose half their impact without the score.
5Editor Alan Heim shaped the rhythm. On an edit-heavy film, the editor does more to control your pulse than the director.
6Ryan Gosling and Rachel McAdams and Gena Rowlands carry the top of the cast.
7Marketing tagline: "Behind every great love is a great story.".
8IMDB entry: tt0332280 — still the authoritative cross-reference for credits and trivia.
912,931 TMDB user ratings logged — serious cultural footprint.
10Classified under 15 themes, including "secret love", "soulmates", "based on novel or book", "love of one's life".
11Released under 14 different titles around the world.

The technical file

Cinematography: Robert Fraisse
Original score: Aaron Zigman
Editing: Alan Heim
Production design: Sarah Knowles
Costume design: Karyn Wagner
Makeup / hair: Milton Buras
Sound: Jon Taylor
Stunt coordinator: Cal Johnson
Runtime: 123 min · 2h 3m
Aspect ratio (typical): 1.37:1 (Academy)
Status: Released
Budget: $29,000,000
Box office: $115,600,000
Return: 399% of budget
Original language: EN
Certification (US): PG-13
IMDB: The Notebook (2004)
Rotten Tomatoes: 55% 🥫 Rotten
Metacritic: 53/100
IMDB rating: 7.8/10 · 686,952 votes
MPAA: PG-13

Awards

12 wins & 10 nominations total

Also by

Nick Cassavetes

Stills · wallpapers

Selected frames

Full-resolution frames — open one to save it as a wallpaper.

Wallpaper

Trailers & featurettes

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Community reviews

What people are saying

CinemaSerf2023-09-04
★ 7/10
A gently touching look at an elderly couple who must deal with present day mental illness told through a retrospective of their not uneventful lives. Rachel McAdams is "Allie", a young girl from a wealthy family who falls for "Noah" (Ryan Gosling) but her mother wants much better for her, so takes her away to their city home and keeps all of his (365) letters. He joins the Army and fights in WWII and, after time, she meets the handsome, wealthy James Marsden ("Lon") but before she marries, she returns to their old stomping ground and... To be fair, the young love/boy from the wrong side of the tracks story elements of the plot are a bit old hat. It's the delicate mechanics of the film that work best - James Garner ("Duke") is reading a story to dementia suffered "Allie" (Gena Rowlands) about the shenanigans of a young couple in the 1940s without us necessarily realising how poignant and apposite his story is. Gradually we become more invested in their lives and as the story starts to knit together, we start to appreciate just how hard it can be for a couple where one has this most cruel of illnesses. Good performances all around, and from Joan Allen as her interfering mother make this an engaging drama with a sharp end!
r96sk2024-01-11
★ 8/10
Touching! Despite evidently not watching this until today, I've always heard about the sad tag that many associate with <em>'The Notebook'</em> - and I can see why. Given I didn't know anything other than that, I was not anticipating how the film portrays its story - which is effective and rather heartbreaking. I'm not one to get properly emotional to movies, though hit the feels this one does still certainly do. The film features impressive performances from Ryan Gosling and Rachel McAdams, as well as James Garner and Gena Rowlands. In smaller roles, Joan Allen and James Marsden are relatively solid too. If I had to nitpick, which it would very much be, I would've shortened the run time ever so slightly; could've been wrapped up quicker, but no biggie.
Wuchak2025-05-04
★ 7/10
Love story in the 1940s near the coast of South Carolina An aged man at a nursing home (James Garner) reads a romantic tale of two young lovers around the WW2 years (Ryan Gosling and Rachel McAdams) to a woman with dementia (Gena Rowlands). Sam Shepard plays the young man’s father while James Marsden is on hand as his competitor. "The Notebook” (2004) comes in the tradition of romantic dramas like “Message in a Bottle,” “A River Runs through It” and “Legends of the Fall.” It may not be as good as “River,” but it’s not as contrived as “Message” and arguably on par with “Legends.” There are bits that also bring to mind two movies from 1991, “Paradise” and “The Man in the Moon.” If you appreciate any of these flicks, you’ll probably like this one. Rachel is a highlight, naturally, and you can’t beat the 1940s milieu. The end goes on a little too long, however. It runs 2 hours, 4 minutes, and was shot mostly on location in the greater Charleston area, as well just outside Montreal for the wintery battlefield sequence and Los Angeles for the rocky beach scene. GRADE: B