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Excellent Love Story, and Almost a Really Outstanding Movie Just as a precursor, my wife and I rented the video and then didn't hesitate to buy it and add it to our collection. She loves the movie, and I really do like it quite a bit. The love story between the two main characters is the driving force of the film, and it's outstanding. I particularly enjoyed the love story between the elder versions of Noah and Allie more than the tumultuous origins of their younger versions, though the younger couple was certainly enjoyable. The comparison most people are bound to allude to is with the love story in "Titanic," with the poor young man and the well-to-do young lady finding their love across the chasm of society and class, and indeed, time itself. It works. This one can indeed put a lump in one's throat. The only complaints that I have -- and they're not major complaints -- are for Nick Cassavetes' uncanny ability to turn a powerful scene quickly into melodrama; in my opinion, there are several times that he does this in "The Notebook," and it turns an otherwise very real, emotional scene into something unreal and plastic, like putting far too much makeup on to a lovely face; pretty soon, you no longer have a beautiful woman. You have Gene Simmons from KISS. The other complaint is that the story is solidly two time periods; the young couple and the old, and I felt as if I was missing a great deal of the story by not having a very clear expose of the years in between. As James Cameron did in Titanic with the camera scanning a collection of photographs through Rose's life, Cassavetes does in The Notebook with Noah and Allie. It didn't really sate me. But again, I think this is a minor complaint. Overall, I found myself very attached to the characters -- even to the sometimes unsettling quirkiness of the young Noah -- and to the film itself. James Garner, usually associated with his Maverick and Jim Rockford characters, really won a piece of my heart in this film for his performance in particular. If you're looking for a good love story and a bit of a tearjerker, I certainly recommend The Notebook for a spot on your DVD shelf, and I'd be curious to know if anyone else feels the same way about my minor criticisms. Don't let them keep you from enjoying a very enjoyable film! :^)